Growing Up is Hard Especially in the Apocalypse
by Jpcthunder
Summary: A year after the events in the Firefly lab, Ellie and Joel have become accustomed to life at Tommy's power plant. But after so long of a time spent with people half and twice her age, Ellie begins to long for her own peers. Follow Joel, Ellie and some of the character's you met in The Last of Us on a story that explores human emotion and the need for friendship, and maybe more.
1. Hunting

**Chapter 1: Hunting**

It had been a year, a year since the Fireflies, since the lab. Ellie and Joel had gotten back to Tommy's in late spring, and had time to get settled permanently. Ellie had decided that being in a community like Tommy's power plant was much nicer and more comfortable than being on the road. The things she loved most about it were the things she never really had in those months. Plumbing and electricity, Ellie loved watching movies, the amazing stories that she never got to experience. She would sit down on the couch with Joel, Tommy and Maria and eat dinner in front of the small screen. It was nice. Her favorite movie was _The Godfather. _Something about those sharply dressed gangsters just made her spine stand on edge. They were cool; Ellie liked all of the movies they had at the plant, which wasn't much. She would even watch the little kid movies with the children in the camp. The animated cartoons didn't look amazing on the small TV, but it was better than nothing. Joel and Tommy always liked the cowboy movies, being from Texas of course. Ellie liked them just fine, but she still liked the gangster movies better.

Among other things she had in the plant that she didn't have on the outside, the thing Ellie liked the most was the plumbing. Having grown up in an almost electrically devoid quarantine zone, it was amazing to not have to squat down into the bushes to use the bathroom. Joel had said that she was happier than a kid at Christmas when Tommy found a box of toilet paper, everyone was.

"What's Christmas anyway?" she had asked one day while they were eating.

"Christmas is…" Joel started "Well, Christmas a holiday that happens in December on Jesus's birthday."

"Jesus?" she asked hesitantly "Like the swear?"

"No" Tommy said "Jesus Christ was the son of God, our savior" he laughed.

"Yeah I bet humanity could use some saving right about now" Maria chuckled.

"Anyway" Joel went back to the holiday "On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus would get in his sleigh on the north pole and fly all around the world, putting presents under children's Christmas trees."

"Yeah right" Ellie said laughing. "How did the sleigh fly?"

"It was pulled" Tommy told her as he shifted his mashed potatoes around "By reindeer."

"Reindeer can't fly" Ellie said.

"Santa's reindeer could." Joel said "Now eat, and then off to bed. We're going hunting tomorrow."

"Really?" Ellie asked, hunting was one of the chores she was best at. She loved taking in the smell of the forest and being able to run past the trees as she tracked the next meal. She liked being the provider for the camp. It made her feel important, special, like people relied on her. It was a lot of responsibility, but it felt good when she heaved a big buck into camp with Joel and Tommy.

Maria's father had started the entire camp a while ago. Seeing as she and Tommy ran the plant, they got the biggest room in the sleeping areas. The men who ran the plant also slept in the rooms, at least those who were single. The workers who had families all lived down in the camp. Ellie and Joel each had their own rooms. Her room had enough space for a new bookshelf, one that she and Joel had put together themselves. Ellie's shelf was about half full already. Reading was one of the things that occupied most of her free time. When she wasn't out hunting, watching the perimeter or helping to improve the fence that surrounded the camp, Ellie was most likely reading. She read everything she could get her hands on. History books, school textbooks, novels, instruction manuals, comic books, especially Savage Starlight. Her favorite novel was _Harry Potter_, the only problem was that she had picked up the third book, and had no idea what happened before and had no way of finding out what was about to happen. That made her kind of angry. Tommy had read all of them when he was a kid, and remembered every small detail, but Ellie didn't want him to give anything away past book three. Among other things that were laid out in her room were: her hunting bow with her quiver of arrows, her 9mm pistol with plenty of extra rounds, all of her clothes (which wasn't a very large wardrobe) hung on hooks on the wall or were piled on the floor. And of course, the thing she couldn't live without, her backpack. The hunting bag had gone through everything she had, it was like an extension of her.

Joel's guitar was resting against the other wall while she kept it in the room for practice. She was struggling to remember the chords to _Act Naturally _by _The Beatles_, Ellie didn't know much about music prior to staying at the plant, but Joel had been teaching her how to play all of the songs he learned before the infection. _The Beatles_ were Joel's favorite band and he would tell her about how people loved them for years before everything went to shit. Other bands Ellie had never heard of were: _Credence Clearwater Revival, The Rolling Stones, _and _The Animals_. Ellie wasn't very good at playing the guitar, but she loved to hear Joel strum the guitar and mouth the words to the songs, trying his hardest not to sing and potentially embarrass himself. Ellie thought that he had a pretty good voice.

Ellie walked into her room after the discussion about Christmas. Joel and Tommy had said December, it was still early summer, it would be a while before Joel said they could chop down a tree. But her birthday was coming up too, so she didn't have to wait very long for any presents. Ellie walked over to the bed and pulled the tie from her ponytail, letting the brown hair fly loose. She knelt over and plopped down on the mattress. It was only the mattress, they were working on finding box springs for they're beds. Ellie liked having her own space after a year of traveling with Joel, huddled up in the corner of some room in an abandoned building, unable to sleep soundly for fear of clickers or Hunters.

Ellie was turning sixteen soon, she had grown at least another two inches. Joel still towered over her however and it seemed like he always would. The teenager was filling out though, with all of the strenuous exercise involved in surviving in this world, Ellie's muscles were finely toned. She had small abdominal muscles being developed in her stomach. She looked at herself in the mirror. It had been two years since she left the zone and she had defiantly noticed the physical changes. Along with the height, she had let her hair had grown another inch and a half. She had noticed more 'embarrassing' changes as well. Her breasts had grown and she had needed to go up a few sizes. When she grew out of her old bras she was initially nervous, but after being able to confide in Maria on the subject, they had found new garments that fit her much more snuggly.

She drifted off to sleep fast, pressing her head to the soft pillow. Ellie had a dreamless sleep that night and it seemed like it was time to wake as soon as she had fallen to sleep. She woke on the first knock.

"Ellie?" Joel's voice rang out before he grabbed the knob. He opened the door and laughed "Let's go kiddo, hunt us some dinner."

"Uhhhh" Ellie groaned as she sat up. "Five more minutes"

"Yeah right" Joel said "Get dressed and grab your gear, me and Tommy'll be waiting in the mess hall"

Ellie got up and pulled her nightshirt off, along with her bra. She stopped in the mirror, examining her naked form. Satisfied with her abs, Ellie put on a new bra and a white Beatles tee shirt. She grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor and looped the belt. She slipped her legs into the tight pants and grabbed her bow. She plucked the string to test it's tensile strength and set it down on the bed. The teen pulled fresh socks and her boots on, not wanting to ruin her sneakers.

She grabbed her backpack and slipped her arms through the straps. Ellie never left her room without having her pistol on her, Joel had taught her to always be prepared. While living the quiet life at the plant, she didn't have much time for practice with the 9mm. Though, she had a feel for the weapon after so much time with it. She made sure the safety was on and slipped it into the back of her waistband. Ellie snagged her bow and slipped the string over her shoulder. After the quiver was placed safely in the backpack, Ellie set off.

She opened the door and walked down the hall, muttering hello to Jim and Alex, two of the maintenance workers. Her boots squeaked on the tiled floor as she strutted into the dining hall. Joel and Tommy were sitting at a table in the corner, gnawing on peaches. Joel was wearing his much abused green plaid shirt. Tommy was clad in a tight black tee shirt that showed off his arm and chest muscles. Joel threw Ellie one of the fruits as she walked over "Eat, keep your strength up." She bit into the sweet peach and let the juice fill her mouth. She sat down on the bench and rubbed her eyes.

"A little tired today?"Tommy laughed.

"What time is it anyway?" Ellie said as she stretched her leg out.

"Around six" Joel said as he clutched the broken watch. Ellie understood why Joel kept the twenty year old watch, sentimentality and everything. It was Joel's curse that he never knew exact time.

"How long are we staying out?"

"Maybe till one" Joel said as he grabbed the rifle from the table and threw it around his shoulder. "Let's hunt us some deer." He started walking out of the mess. Ellie followed as she bit into her breakfast again. As Tommy got off of the bench, his radio buzzed to life. "Hey, boss man?" A voice rang out over the microphone.

Tommy pulled the radio from his belt "Go ahead."

"We got a perimeter problem over here, figured you should take care of it."

"Is it that important?" Tommy said as he tapped his foot against the floor. "I'm about to go hunting with my brother and my niece" he winked at Ellie. It was true, Ellie and Tommy had bonded over the past year, until a real uncle-niece actually developed.

"Two clickers got stuck on the electric fence." The voice said "Can Maria come down and take care of it instead?"

"Maria's teaching the five, six, and seven year olds how to read today" Tommy declared "I can take care of it, I'll be over in five" he put the walkie talkie back on his waist and sighed "I guess it's just you guys today. Maybe I can catch up later"

"That's okay" Joel said as he put his arm over Ellie's shoulder and smiled "It can be just the two of us today." He waved goodbye to Tommy as his brother strutted out of the room. "Let's go baby girl"

They walked out of the plant, breathing in the crisp, early summer air. It was a beautiful day, around seventy five degrees. Ellie felt comfortable in the white tee as the sunlight hit her. She fixed the strap on her bag and walked towards the gate.

"Two going out!" The gateman said as Joel and Ellie left the plant and walked out into the forest. The pair walked down the path by the river and into the forest.

"Nice day out today" Joel remarked as they passed the river, leaving the dam out of sight.

"Yeah" She said sighing, Tommy was usually the one who started all of the hunting conversations.

Joel grabbed the hunting rifle from his shoulder and pulled the bolt back on the gun. "Okay, so, what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on." Ellie said as she climbed up a rock and jumped off.

"Don't give me that Ellie" Joel brushed past a tree and snapped off a branch. "Something's wrong, I can hear it in your voice. Now, I ain't really your dad, but I care about you. I want to help you out Ellie."

"It's just…" She stammered out, Ellie struggled for the words to say "I love you and Tommy, and Maria is great too, but I…"

"What?" Joel asked "Did someone say something to you?"

"Not that… I just…" Ellie was never like this, so lost for words "There's nobody at camp that I can really relate to, you know? Everyone there besides the little kids knew what life was like twenty years ago. It's just hard not having anybody your own age around."

"I know" Joel said as he took aim at a squirrel and fired. "Come on, we can make the most of today."

"Yeah, sure" Ellie said. _Is there no one else my age left in this world_? She thought as she walked on.


	2. Sunk Low Again

**Chapter 2: Sunk Low Again**

"Man this thing is heavy!" Ellie exclaimed as they pulled the large buck up the hill.

"It just seems heavier without Tommy here" Joel chuckled.

"My muscles burn." Ellie said, usually she wouldn't whine, but she wasn't feeling very amicable today.

"That's you getting stronger" Joel said "That's what my dad used to always say to me when I said my muscles hurt."

Ellie got under the large animal and pushed her shoulder into its chest. Joel put the deer down. "Here, switch." He moved to where Ellie had been lifting and she shifted over to the head of the deer. Ellie grabbed the deer by the antlers and gripped hard. The girl lifted with all of her might as Joel got under the three hundred pound beast. "1…2…3" Joel panted as the pair pulled up.

"We have to carry this?" Ellie said through deep breaths.

"No, not unless you have a truck I don't know about" the forty something year old replied laughing.

"Oh ha ha Joel"

"Though I do admit it" Joel said "That was a pretty good shot."

It was true; Ellie had nailed the horse right in its left eye. The wooden arrow poked out of its head triumphantly. "It's not my fault I'm a better shot than you"

"And you're so modest too Ellie!" Joel laughed. He had become much less morbid and depressed in the last year, Ellie thought this new attitude must be what Joel was like before the infection hit. Still, the slightest mention of Sarah that wasn't his own, and he sunk low again.

They got back to the plant right after lunch. "Two coming in!" yelled the gateman. Ellie and Joel laid the large buck on the dirt of the entrance yard.

"That's one hell of a catch" Maria said as she strode up to them, clad in a thin yellow sweatshirt and cargo pants. "We'll have plenty of meat for tonight. We had James fish at the river, he caught plenty of trout."

"Well, we're gonna eat good tonight" Joel said as he left the deer for the rest of the gang, heading back for his room. Ellie followed him "Um, my pistol needs to be cleaned, you wanna help out?" she lied as they walked down the hall to Joel's room. Her pistol was cleaner than possible; it hadn't been fired in a week.

"I'd love to…" he started

"But?"

"But I have to help Tommy; I wanna make sure the perimeter is safe." And with that Joel went back into his room, put the rifle down on the bed, and grabbed his Smith and Wesson. With the reaffirming _snap _of the thigh holster, Ellie's foster father bounded down the hall.

"So what am I supposed to do for the rest of the day?" Ellie said as she kicked the tiled floor with her boot. She strutted over to her room, kicking off her hunting boots. The power plant had locker rooms, where there were showers. This was one of the perks of having power, showers. Sure, there was no soap to really get clean with, but having the warm water cascade down her shoulders made Ellie feel as clean as possible in this dirty bloody world. She walked down the hall with a change of clothes in hand, singing _The Beatles _softly to herself.

"Hey Jude, don't make it bad" She sang as her feet smacked against the tiles of the hall. "Take a sad song and make it better" she pushed open the door to the women's locker room and found only one other lady in there, Andrea Miller, Ellie thought her name was. Though, at a big community like the one at the plant, it was hard to keep track of names for a long time. Ellie was used to people dying before she had the chance to remember their names. "The minute" The teenager continued to sing, waving hello to Andrea "You let her under your skin" Ellie undressed quickly, pulling the sweaty, slick tee over her head and tossing it into the corner of the room. Her pants and undergarments quickly joined her shirt as Ellie walked into one of the shower stalls.

"Then you begin" she turned on the water and let it wash the sweat from her face "To make it better." She turned the temperature down after realizing she wasn't dirty enough to need boiling water. "I should really learn that on the guitar" She thought out loud. Ellie took her hands and shook her hair furiously to wash out the dirt and tree leaves. With a turn of the knob after a solid ten minutes, Ellie reached for her towel and dried off, wiping the tiny droplets of water off of her naked body. She paused over the large bite mark on her right arm. She sighed to herself softly and continued. Most people at the plant knew about her condition. At first, most people were in an uproar, claiming the need to 'find a cure' but Joel told them off, saying that the last Firefly scientists were dead, and they weren't looking for anymore. Ellie accepted this with a grain of salt, knowing if the scientists had lived, so would the rest of humanity. As Ellie was getting dressed, Andrea Miller walked up to her.

"Hey there Ellie" The kind middle age woman greeted her.

"What's up," Ellie asked, toweling her hair.

"Well, while some of the boys were off looking for supplies, they stumbled on a clothing truck and grabbed everything they could carry." Miller explained "I notice you always wearing the same old tee shirts honey; you should look for something in your size."

"Yeah" Ellie said "Sounds good, I'll check it out."

"Better hurry before I take everything" She chuckled.

_I doubt you could squeeze into anything my size lady. _Ellie laughed to herself as Miller walked away. Andrea was right however, all that Ellie's minimal wardrobe contained was the dirty white shirt she had just taken off before her shower, a blouse, a flannel shirt, a sweatshirt, the long tee red tee-shirt she had met Joel in, and her army green winter jacket. Along with two pairs of tight jeans, some cargo pants, and a pair of never used jean shorts that were forbidden for anything by Joel because Ellie accidently cut them too short. It was true, short pants weren't exactly functional in this world anymore, which was the excuse that Joel made. But Ellie suspected it was because of how much of her upper thigh the jeans revealed.

Ellie could use some new clothes. Clad in her other jeans and the classic red shirt over gray long sleeve combo that she wore so frequently, she set off for the town square, where the clothes were most likely to be unloaded. The teenager lightly jogged down the tiled floors, her semi wet brown hair bounced as she fixed it into a ponytail with the same hair tie she always used. Ellie knew that loose hair was an extravagance that she couldn't afford, Joel having told her so often that a runner or bandit could easily grab it. Ellie wanted at least another solid week with her long hair before Joel had Maria snip it two more inches. Stopping only to smell the venison she had just caught that day cooking in the kitchen, Ellie made her way to the town.

It wasn't a terribly long walk (Or jog) from the plant to the town. Tommy had always joked about how he felt like some lord living in his big castle whilst his 'people' lived in the village below, that Maria was his 'fair lady' and that Ellie was the 'princess' The teenager had never laughed harder than when Joel had been titled 'The Royal Fool' by his younger brother. A comment that started a wrestling match that lasted a good ten minutes, after Joel had emerged victorious, he proclaimed himself 'King of all the Realm' and laughed on. Joel and Tommy had both been fans of fantasy books and movies when they were younger, but still, no matter how hard they tried to explain it, Ellie still could not understand the _Lord of the Rings _at all. She was sure that if she read the book she would, and the search for the tome continued._ Still_, Ellie thought _it's pretty cool that Tommy and Maria can kinda 'rule' over the people of the town without becoming dictators._

Ellie found Maria with the rest of the townspeople, looking over the pile of clothes. It was a scattered mess, of course. Many articles of clothing, shirts, blouses, jackets, pants, shorts, hats, even suits and dresses. It was a mad scramble for all of the best things. People were knocking each other over to get a snag at the finest things. Maria had already grabbed new things for Joel, Tommy, Ellie, and herself.

"Wow" Ellie exclaimed, "It's crazy over here!"

"Yeah" Maria said "I got some stuff in our private pile if you wanna try them on." She grabbed a armful of different things. "If they don't fit you, we can put them back" She smiled and directed Ellie behind a tall brick wall to change.

The new jeans fit her, something that exited Ellie a great deal. The new sneakers however, did not. Maria said that she could keep them, as there was a possibility she could grow more. The plain black tee shirt was too small, and the long sleeve brown too big. A promising leather jacket was added to her winter wardrobe, and a pink pair of sunglasses weren't her color, but Ellie kept them anyway. It was on the last garment that Ellie did a double take.

It was a blouse, a purple one. Nice silver colored buttons and barely any sleeves. Pockets on both breasts and cut a tiny bit shorter than usual. Ellie let a small tear drop from her eye as she lifted the shirt. _It looks just like the one Tess was wearing. _Besides the missing bullet holes and blood, it could have been taken from Tess's corpse. Ellie wouldn't be surprised if it was the same brand. She looked at the tag 'New Age Designers' it read. Ellie was debating whether or not to put it back into the pile when Maria came back with two pairs of undergarments. "Ellie?"

"Yeah?" She said as she clutched the blouse.

"I found these too, thought you could use em'" Maria handed Ellie the panties and turned. "Is there something wrong?"

"No it's just, this blouse…" She trailed off.

"Is it torn or something?" Maria grabbed the shirt and looked it over.

"No it's the style actually" Ellie said as she wiped her eyes "A friend died in a shirt just like that one." She confided in Maria.

"Oh" Maria stepped back and pulled a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Do you still want it?"

Ellie thought for a second. Was it worth keeping for nostalgia's sake? Or would it just bring back memories of Tess that she just wanted to forget? Then Ellie changed her mind. If she threw away everything that reminded her of dead people, she'd be all alone.

"I'll keep it," She said, clutching it close and tight.

"Okay" Tommy's wife said "Then help me haul Joel's new stuff to his room."

They brought Joel's things, a new tee shirt, a red plaid, and a pair of grayish jeans, into his room. Joel's room was nowhere as full as Ellie's. A shotgun, his rifle, his own bow, flamethrower (Which he wouldn't let Ellie touch) and axe were leaning against the wall. Other than those, the large rucksack, and the bed, the room was empty. Maria took the khakis and decided to give them to Tommy; Joel never gave any other pants that weren't made of denim a chance. The middle age man liked jeans better than anything else. Tommy had once told Ellie that Joel failed high school gym because he refused to wear sweats or basketball shorts.

"Alright Ellie" Maria said, "I have to go check on dinner, then make sure all of the towns people are good. We should be eating in around forty five minutes. We'll ring the dinner bell."

Ellie nodded "Anything I could do?"

"No" The woman said as she started to walk away. "Sorry, why don't you read or something to pass the time. We'll find you some chores tomorrow." She strutted down the hall and out the doors.

Ellie sighed "I've already read every book I own" she half shouted at Maria, though she doubted she was heard. Ellie headed back to her room and did several menial tasks to pass time. Those of which included: Flipping her switchblade out and sheaving it again, disassembling her pistol and reassembling it trying for her best time, tossing a book up and down in the air while she laid in bed, which was abandoned after the book came flying back at her face, and finally, reading _Savage Starlight_ like she was acting in a movie, then trying to recite parts from _The Godfather_, which she had seen over a dozen times.

Ellie was in the middle of the part where Michael tells Kay Adams about how his father threatened a big bandleader with Luca Brasi, when the dinner bell sounded. One of the alarms that used to be for the plant workers to tell them when their lunch break was over. Ellie opened the door to her room and was about to walk out when she stopped.

She stared at the purple blouse and thought. After about three minutes of solid thinking she changed into the shirt and traveled to the mess hall, where Joel and Tommy had already arrived, with small plates with even smaller portions of venison on them. Most of the townspeople ate, of course, in the town. But every once in a while, the ordinary citizen would come up to the plant, where they were treated with respect and given a plate and people to eat with. Most still chose to eat with their families.

Ellie walked into the hall, pulling the blouse down and buttoning the third to top button, having forgotten about it before. "Hi everyone." She waved as she grabbed a plate for herself and sat down.

"Hey there Ellie" Tommy nodded as he poured water from the river into Ellie's glass. "Eat up, it was your catch."

Joel, who had been turned around talking to one of the plant workers, twisted his neck to see Ellie "Hope your hung…" He stopped mid sentence. His eyes had trailed to her collar, he grabbed her shoulder. "Where did you…" He tossed his fork down onto the plate, which clattered loudly. Everyone in the hall stopped to watch Joel march out of the room, heading for the roof.

_I didn't think I'd upset him like that_ Ellie thought as she ran after him. Tommy and Maria sat baffled as Ellie pushed the double doors open. Joel was getting older, but by no means slower. Ellie jogged up the iron staircase. Her hand finding the metal banister and her eyes finding the roof door.

Joel was looking off the roof into the forest. He had a hand up to his beard, stroking the graying hair.

"Joel?" Ellie hesitantly approached.

"Ellie," he started. "Do you remember after the Capitol building, two years ago?"

He didn't see her nod, but he kept talking anyway. "What was rule number one?"

She stopped breathing for a second. "Never bring up Tess" she shifted from one foot to another. "Ever" She added.

"Yeah" he said as he walked past her "Ever" he opened the door. "Finish your dinner, and then burn that goddamn thing."

Ellie nodded and followed, like she always did.


	3. Burial

**Chapter 3: Burial **

Ellie walked out of her room, a new shirt on and the purple one under her arm. She half closed, half slammed the door shut and walked down the hall. The teenager didn't bother waving hello to anyone, and the people who waved to her dismissed her attitude. Everyone here got angry once in a while, because everyone had something to be angry about. Ellie opened up the main doors and stepped back out into the courtyard, passing the horse stable and moving to the main gate.

Everyone at dinner had clapped her on the back for catching such a good deer. Ellie couldn't disagree more. The taste of the venison felt like bile in her mouth, and she was wiping a piece of it off of her jeans as she approached the gate.

"Hey Jim" Ellie addressed the man at the gate. "Open it up." She commanded and gestured toward the large steel door.

"Sorry Ellie" Jim said as he shouldered his rifle. "Way too late, it's too dark to go out right now"

"Will you just do this for me?" Ellie pleaded "I'm only stepping right outside."

Jim stepped back and thought "Should I get Joel to come over here?" he asked the man next to him, Jack.

_NO! _Ellie's mind screamed as she said "Don't fuck with me Jim, I'm just digging a hole and burning some useless shit."

"Why don't you just put it in the bonfire?" Jack questioned.

_Because Joel might be over there _"It's private, really, it'll only take a second, kay?"

"Alright" Jim said as he and Jack walked over to the gates. They took out the steel bar and swung the doors open. The metal creaked and shuttered as they opened, leaving the gate open to the outside world. "ONE GOING OUT" Jim yelled as Ellie walked through the walls. "For a second" He added

"Thanks" She nodded at Jim as the gates closed back up.

Ellie walked a short distance, making sure that the man in the watchtower could still see her. She set the purple shirt down on the dirt and started digging. The teen pushed her hands into the soft mud and pulled it out, making a small pile. Her hands were caked by the time she was halfway done. She pulled the shirt up and thought. _I never thought Joel would freak out so badly. I would have never worn this. Maybe it's better off that I get rid of it._ Ellie took out her emergency book of matches and tore one out. She peeled off the wax coating on the match. They had been dipped in the wax to be waterproof. Ellie struck the box and the match ignited, sending small bits of smoke into the air. She brought the tip of the flame to the shirt's collar and watched as the cotton went up in flames fast.

Ellie threw the blouse into the small hole. She watched as the flames ate the memories away. _Fire cleanses _she chuckled to herself as a tear escaped her eye. The fire trailed up the shirt, making it bend over itself and burn to ashes. _We never did get to bury Tess _Ellie thought as she pushed the dirt pile back into the hole, putting out the fire and leaving nothing. _Maybe I should mark the grave. No, there's no point in leaving a gravestone for a shirt. I didn't know Tess nearly as long as Joel did. But she was a friend right? She liked me, right? She was willing to sacrifice herself for me. But was that just because she had already been bitten or because she really cared? _Ellie was often unsure about what people thought of her. Joel had once told her to not care about what others thought about you, and that if they can't like you for who you are, then there's no point in trying to make them like you.

She started to get up when she heard a scream from the watchtower.

"ELLIE!" The rifleman yelled. The teenager was about to turn around when a hand caught her. "FUCK!" Ellie shouted as the hand continued to grab. Ellie threw her hands behind her, hitting flesh. The telltale moans and screams coming from her attacker told her that it wasn't a bandit. Thankfully, there wasn't any clicking coming from the assaulter either. It was a runner. A runner had its infected hands on her.

Ellie couldn't be infected, but that didn't mean she couldn't be devoured or eaten alive. She could die from blood loss too. Ellie tried to reach for her gun when the infected body snatched her by the hair. She felt bits and strands of hair being ripped out of her head as the runner pulled and pulled, all the while trying to sink its jaws into Ellie's neck.

"JACK" Ellie heard Jim yell "SHOOT YOU IDIOT!"

"I CAN'T, I MIGHT HIT HER!" Jack screamed back as his flashlight focused on Ellie. The young woman struggled to move out of the way, her brown locks being ripped from her scalp. She reached around for something, anything. Ellie found the runner's shoulder and pushed hard. She could feel the soft, rotten, almost dead flesh as she tried to move. "GET THE FUCK OFF ME" She yelled as if it could help. Ellie finally managed to face the runner, getting its hands off of her hair. The used-to-be human snapped its yellow teeth and saliva hit Ellie's face. The disgusting creature's eyeballs seemed to be coming out of its sockets.

Ellie, using her left hand to move the monster back, pulled the closest thing out of her pocket, her knife. With the ordinary and routine flourish, she opened the blade. Its steel reflected off of Jack's flashlight as Ellie plunged the knife into the runner's gut. The runner doubled over and let out what sounded like a scream as Ellie took two paces away. The teen reached for her 9mm, fumbling and trying to take steps on the uneven earth. The runner was coming back! Its claw like hands reached for her again. Ellie tried to run, tried to put one foot in front of the other. An unseen tree root caused her to fall to the ground, she moaned in pain after landing on a jagged rock. The gun flew from her hand and landed about five feet away from her hands. The runner made a dive once more, and Ellie found herself scrambling for her gun. She crawled through the dirt quickly as the runner jumped. Ellie grabbed her gun and pulled the trigger with fear in her heart.

_Click_

Nothing, no gunshot. "WHAT THE FUCK!" She yelled as she closed her eyes. _Is this it? _She questioned her survival as the runner leapt atop her and had her by the shirt. The beast's hand grabbed her shoulder and reached down, ready to eat, to feast, and to bite her. To rip her throat open and let the blood and guts pour out of her. Ellie screamed and pouted "NO" she yelled and punched, squirming, begging for another few minutes of life.

* * *

Short chapter with a major cliffhanger (Just what Ellie hates)

Just in case your wondering about any of these things:

The year is 2035

Joel is 48

Ellie is almost 16

Tommy is about 42

Maria is around the same age as Tommy maybe a little younger

Much of this story will be emotional story based stuff, but you will see plenty of blood by the time I'm done. By the time I'm done, I don't know yet, this story could be ten to fifty chapters long. If anyone has any suggestions for my story please don't hesitate to private message me. Please review and let me know what you think.

The next chapter should be up either tonight (6/19) or tomorrow.


	4. Peace

**Chapter 4: Peace**

_BANG_

Ellie found her face covered in wet blood. Her eyes popped open in surprise as she watched the runner fall to the ground, dead. The creature's brain fragments and pieces of its brittle cranium splattered on the tree next to them. Ellie panted hard as she lay there, mesmerized by her near death experience, experiences that happened much too often. Her legs struggled to find ground as she tried to get up. The teenager looked up at the watchtower. Jack had the gun pointed and Ellie could see his flashlight move as he ran down the stairs.

"Open it up!" Jack yelled as Ellie heard the doors slide open. "Ellie?!" he ran over to her double time as she pushed her head back into the dirt, unable to calm down. She breathed hard and fast as the blood from the runner trailed over to her face. She wiped blood and brains off of her face as Jack came over to her. He grabbed her by the shoulder "Are you alright?" he asked as she brushed his hand off

"Don't touch me" She commanded as she caught her breath. "Just **don't **touch me" she finally got to her feet as Jack shouldered his rifle.

"Why didn't you shoot?" The man asked as Ellie grabbed her gun.

"It fucking jammed" Ellie yelled as she cleared the gun. She unloaded and reloaded the pistol. Ellie pulled the slide back and fired into the runner's head with anger. "FUCKER" she kicked the dead body in the gut hard.

"Hey hey" Jack stammered "Let's get back inside before something else shows up okay?"

"Yeah" she huffed out and turned her back on the runner. Ellie couldn't get to the gate faster. Her legs trembled as she ran, each step feeling like a knife going through her thigh. The shock was getting to her. _Come on_ she yelled at herself _you've faced runners before. _She struggled to get through the gate.

"Get that gate open!"Jack yelled and the gates creaked open. Once Ellie was inside she fell back down to her knees. "Fuck" She swore as she finally put her gun away. She pushed more hair off of face as Joel approached.

"ELLIE!" he yelled as he ran up to her "Are you…?"

She pushed him off of her as he grabbed her arm. "Get away from me Joel" finding her feet and her stamina back, she ran off into the plant, brushing off Maria as well. Ellie slammed her room's door shut and fell into the bed. By this point in her life, she thought all of her tears were used up. That didn't stop her from crying again. _It's that easy to die_ she thought as she pulled the pistol from her pants.

_Don't ever let your guard down_ Joel's voice echoed in her head as she disassembled the gun. She had done this over and over again for so many nights. _I need to check the gun for jams every day_ she made a mental note in her head. She counted off the rounds in her clip and the bullets she had wasted in anger firing into the runner's head.

Ellie sunk her head into the pillow _Its Joel's fault I was out there _the lingering thought in her mind pushed its way out. These racing thoughts didn't stop her from falling asleep.

Her eyes shot open faster than a gunshot. She was done with nightmares. She curled up and rubbed her tired eyes, letting her senses come back to her. Ellie's hand reached for the hair tie to her right and tied her hair into the ponytail.

"You're finally awake" A voice across from her said. The similar, gruff, nasty survivor's voice. Joel was sitting in a folding chair across from Ellie's bed. He had _Savage Starlight _volume one in his hands. "I don't really know what you see in this but I am an old man." He laughed.

"It helps to be a little more _forgiving _when you're reading it." She snapped as Joel flipped through pages.

"I suppose I deserve that" he said as he put the comic book down. "I'm sorry baby"

Ellie threw the blanket off of her body and got out of bed, letting her sock covered feet hit the hard cold floor. "Yeah whatever" She wasn't used to Joel apologizing, it was unnatural.

"I'm serious" The elder man said. "I uhhhh…" he struggled to find the words as he scratched the thick beard on his face. "I shouldn't have gotten angry about some stupid shirt."

"I understand." Ellie said as she grabbed the comic book and put it on its place on the shelf. "You didn't want to be reminded about Tes… You-know-who"

"Yeah, I never really talked to you about it." Joel said "I um… I know you really liked her."

"Not as much as you seemed to like her." Ellie scratched at her head and yawned.

"No" Joel ran his hand through his shirt, wiping dirt away. "I just miss her, I knew her for a long time."

"Were you two ever…" Ellie thought for a second about how to word the question.

"A couple?" Joel suggested.

"Yeah"

"Yes" Joel leaned in and put his elbows onto his knees. "We uhh… first met about fifteen years after the infected first started showing up." His eyes wavered and a look of serious pain hit Joel as he recalled his former friend. "We started working together about a week later. After I saved her from a bandit. Shot the guy point blank in the face. Bout a year after that, we started 'seeing' each other. A month later she was pregnant." He nodded and wiped more grime off of his face. "She uhhh… the baby didn't make it." He said as his voice trembled and he grasped at his shaking hands.

"She had a miscarriage. She was barren, she couldn't have kids. Even if we had tried again they all would have… died." From one of Joel's eyes, a tear escaped. The tear hit the ground with a resounding _drip _a sound that in any other room wouldn't have been heard at all.

"The doctor's… back when we still had them. They said that it was better off that Tess couldn't have children. Dr. Erikson… that was his name. The doc said that this world was no place for children. He said that we were lucky."

Ellie thought that she couldn't breathe. Even after two years of knowing Joel, she was never told this story. The young girl had never known that Tess and Joel were romantically involved. She continued in silence as Joel began speaking again.

"I broke the doctor's jaw for saying that." He scratched at his scarred arms "I spent a year in military detainment for that, but I didn't regret anything until I walked back outside to meet her." Joel rubbed his knees and shook out his fatigued feet. "She told me that she just wanted to be friends… no, not friends… just partners." His lip quivered as he tried to calm himself down. He was sweating bullets now.

"But I never stopped loving her" he said reassuringly, though Ellie couldn't tell if he was trying to reassure her or himself. "Even though I didn't show it to her." he finished.

He stood up and faced Ellie "When you wore that blouse… man that was her favorite shirt. When you sat down next to me, I did a double take. I thought for a second…" his tears were flowing now. "I thought for a second… Just a split second, that I was staring right at Tess." He chuckled "All that was missing was that stupid bandanna." He laughed and cried as Ellie wrapped her arms around Joel's midsection. He pulled her close and squeezed hard, not wanting to ever let go.

Ellie could feel the cotton of the shirt he wore, the hard thick cotton. The smell that Joel let out. He must have taken a shower a few days ago. He didn't smell horrible, but then again, he didn't smell like roses either. Ellie clutched onto Joel and didn't want to ever let go, even though she knew she had to. The middle aged man stroked her hair fondly and kissed the top of her forehead. "Thank you" he said.

"For what?"

"For being here" he said "When I met you I was on the verge of giving up. Then Tess died. I just wanted to lose it, but you were still there. You kept me going kid."

This only made Ellie want to hug him harder.

"I think I'm gonna teach you to swim tomorrow."

Ellie nodded and laughed. For that moment, there were no infected. No ravenous clickers or even bloaters. All of the memories of dead friends, Tess, Sam, Henry, even Riley, gone. All the horrible people, the hunters, the rapists and murderers, gone. For that moment it was just Joel and Ellie. Two people. Two friends. A loving father and a wonderful daughter.

And for that moment, that moment that seemed to last forever, there was peace.


	5. Swimming and Stalkers

**Chapter 5: Swimming and Stalkers**

"Goddamn it!"

Ellie fumbled around in the water and swore as she went back under. Joel grabbed her by the stomach and pulled her head back over the surface.

"Come on kid, you got this." He said reassuringly.

It was a horrible day so far. Ellie was trying to swim unsuccessfully. She wiggled around in the water, uncomfortable in the strange situation. She had only gone into the water willingly about two times, and those two times were always because she had no other options. Ellie still had nightmares about Pittsburg, where she jumped into the water, with no idea on how she would live. Somehow she was able to put that fear aside and trust that Joel could support her. She had Joel here now though, so it couldn't get much harder.

The upside was that there were no restrictive clothes to get in the way. Ellie was clad in only a bathing suit, an old bikini with black and white stripes that Maria had found. The suit felt strange. Sort of like wearing underwear, yet, heavier and unable to see through when wet. Joel was wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts that he borrowed from Tommy. Joel was inching closer and closer to fifty years old with every passing year, and in about two, he would hit the mark. Still, Joel was in as good a shape as one could be in this world. If Joel had kept this active lifestyle and was living in the past, with plenty of food, he could be an extreme fitness nut. Even without proper nourishment, Joel had a tight set of abs and large arms. The years of fighting off clickers with his bare hands, climbing fences, and running for his life had turned the man into a machine. Of course, eventually, like luck, stamina ran out. Joel had ten years, maybe more, of strenuous exercise left in him. After that, who knows if he was going to stay like he is.

_Fuck this is way harder than Joel makes it look. _They were swimming in the small lake a short walk outside of the plant. Tommy stood at the edge of the lake, offering encouraging words to Ellie and keeping a look out for any infected or bandits. After the event the night before, Ellie was hesitant to even put a small step outside of the walls of the plant. Knowing that Joel was going out with her helped solidify her courage, but that changed as soon as they stepped in the water.

"I can't do this!" she had said after the third try at wading past shoulder height.

"Hey" Joel said "The Ellie I know don't give up, and I'll be damned if I let her. Now let's go, try again."

Ellie took a deep breath and let her legs leave the sandy ground as Joel let go. She kicked with her feet "Don't forget your arms now" Joel commanded as she struggled, her hair flopping around as she tumbled. Ellie put her hands in front of her and pushed with the water, which rippled as she did so. She kicked as hard as she could. "There you go! Now you're moving!" she went about ten yards before she stopped, letting Joel be her safety line once more.

"There it is!" Tommy cheered encouragingly from the edge of the lake. "That's our girl"

Ellie smiled proudly. That was the longest and farthest distance she had ever swam before. "I guess its not that hard, huh?" Joel mocked. Ellie kicked with her legs to stay afloat. The cool water felt rejuvenating as she touched down on the shallower area. The young woman curled up her toes and felt the sand push its way up her foot. Ellie dipped her head down into the clear water and quickly resurfaced, shaking out her hair and laughing.

"Let's go eat kid" Joel said as he walked towards the beach.

"Really?" Ellie pouted "So soon?"

Joel turned around and put his hands on his hips, "You were swearing and whining about five minutes ago."

"Yeah" She chuckled, "But I think I got the hang of it now."

Joel slapped himself in the forehead. "Alright, come and eat something, then we'll swim for another half hour."

Ellie walked to the beach and strutted out of the water. _This water feels amazing on such a hot day_ Ellie thought as she grabbed one of the small linen towels sitting next to Tommy. She wiped off her legs and arms, her belly, and squeezed the water out of her hair. Ellie sat on the tree stump across from Tommy and grabbed a small piece of lunch. The three broke their fast on pickled trout, preserved for a long time in a plastic container.

All was peaceful, and then the rustling of the bushes behind them.

Weapons were drawn in an instant. Ellie found her pistol where it was left on top of her shirt. Tommy had placed his rifle on the ground next to him, and within seconds, it was trained on the wooded area. With a quick flourish, Joel retrieved his revolver from the holster in record time. He pulled the hammer back and aimed, ready to shoot the first bandit he spotted.

"Who's there?" Ellie dared to ask. After seconds of uneasy silence, Tommy spoke up. "Must have just been a squirrel or something."

"Nah" Joel said, "I don't like it." He got up from his seat and walked to the bushes. He plunged a hand into the thick underbrush and pulled someone out. They hit the ground hard as Joel stuck his revolver into their temple. Ellie was struggling to get a good look.

It was defiantly a male, that much was sure. Ellie could only make out the basic assumption. He had red hair that was a mix between short and long, Ellie couldn't decide which. He was on the bigger side, there was evidence that he used to be overweight, his shirt had flew open when Joel grabbed him, and Ellie could see what looked like stretch marks on the man's skin. Though he used to be overweight, he was by no means now. He didn't have huge abdominal muscles, but was defiantly well toned. He wore a plain blue button up shirt, dirty and caked with mud, along with a pair of baggy black jeans, baggy enough to not be restrictive, yet tight enough to not be sliding. A hunting knife hung at his side, and Ellie could swear he was wearing a holster around his shoulders, with a loaded gun in it.

"What do we have here?" Joel questioned as he pushed the man down "Oh shit"

Upon closer inspection, the man wasn't a man, he was a teenager. Ellie wouldn't be surprised if they were the same age. Although he was very young, there was no denying the survivor in the teen, one could tell from his eyes and his scarred face. "Look man" He said in a soft voice, trying to seem as amicable as possible. "I'm just lost"

"Yeah" Joel said "Well, you better get found real soon." He pulled the gun from the holster.

"I'm not leaving without that gun." The teen said as he eyed his stolen property.

"Yes you are" Joel commanded "Now walk back up that hill, and forget that you saw us."

"Give me the firearm." The cocky young man said "Joel" he added.

Joel stepped back and looked out over the lake, "How long you been sitting there? You fucking eavesdropper." He smacked the boy in the head.

"Relax" He swatted Joel's hand away. "I was running from those fucking assholes out in the woods."

"What assholes?" Tommy jutted in.

"Those goddamn bandits," he yelled in anger. "They attacked my camp. So far, I think I'm the only one that made it out. They tried to raid us for supplies. We didn't even have that much to begin with."

"Yeah" Ellie said "We've had similar problems."

"Ellie!" Joel snapped, he obviously didn't want the girl talking to this stranger.

"Look" The young man said "Just give me my gun, and I'll leave. You'll never see me again."

Joel stopped "You just ran away from bandits, and you wanna go back into the woods again?"

"It's not like I'm gonna get any help from you three." He accused.

"Your right about one thing" Joel threw the teen's gun back at his feet. "Catch you around. Tommy keep the gun on him till we're out of sight." Joel turned to Ellie "Get dressed"

Ellie, who usually followed without question, declined. "Joel, we can't just leave him."

"Why the hell not?" Joel buttoned up his shirt as the young stranger slid his gun back into the holster.

"Those fucking bandits are looking for him." She said

"You know how long they been looking for us?" Joel asked "He'll be fine, now get dressed."

"No" Ellie sat back down on the tree stump.

"You are just determined to make this difficult aren't you"

"Yup" Ellie bit her fingernails.

"Absolutely not, we don't know this kid." Joel stayed firm.

"Its not like we don't have room." Ellie said "We have three extra bedrooms."

"This ain't about how much space we have Ellie"

"I don't care what it's about, we can't just leave somebody out in the woods all alone."

Joel leaned into Ellie's ear. "This is all because it's someone your own age isn't it?"

"Kinda" Ellie cringed

Joel sighed. "Fine" he said to compromise. "But the second this kid looks like he can't be trusted and I am putting him out in these woods no matter what you say."

Ellie shrugged. "I suppose that's… _fair_" She got off of the stump and walked to the strange young person. "I'm Ellie" She held out her left hand to pull him up and hid her right behind her back.

"I know what your name is" he said as he brushed dirt off of his sleeve. "And I doubt you could lift me off my feet."

"Try me" She said with a freckled smirk. He reached out his hand and Ellie took it, his rough callused hand reminded her of Joel's. She pulled up, he was heavy, but with a large tug she pulled him off his feet and onto the soft earth.

"Well" The teenager said confused "I guess your stronger than you look."

"I get that a lot." Ellie laughed "Your name is…?"

"John… John Car…" he started

"No" she stopped him "No last names. Believe it or not, you're the only John I've seen in a while."

"Okay then" He said "Just John."

Ellie pulled her long shirt on first, making sure to cover her bite mark, then slid her jeans on over her bathing suit as well. Ellie grabbed her gun. "Shall we?" she pointed off into the woods to the trail leading back to the dam.

"Sure" John said as he set off, up the hill and the rocks.

_It's gonna be a pain in the ass having Joel and John around. Stupid J names. _Ellie thought as she followed the stranger up the hill. In truth she was ecstatic. Here standing in front of her was her peer, someone who knew what she was going through, somebody she could relate to.

Ellie had finally found what she was looking for.


	6. Home Sweet Home

**Chapter 6: Home Sweet Home**

John was taken aback by the sight of Ellie's home. The power plant was amazing. For so many years he had been living in a tent, now the promise of electricity was almost too much to hope for. As he walked up the trail leading to the plant he whistled and stopped.

"You guys actually live here?" he wiped a hand through his red hair.

"Yeah" Ellie said. "For about two years now."

"Is it safe?" John asked "From the infected?"

"You bet your ass it is" Tommy said as he walked up to the gate. "We even got us an electric fence" The older man pounded five times on the steel doors. The gate swung open to allow them in. John walked into the compound and was, again, amazed. At the horse stables where more than seven horses were being groomed or having riders jumping onto their backs. John was about to follow Joel, Ellie, and Tommy when he was stopped. A large man pushed his hand in front of his chest.

"Who the fuck is this?" he shoved John back. John stumbled for a second then found his feet.

"Back off asshole" The teenager said as his hand reached for his knife. He didn't get a chance to draw it.

"Jim!" Tommy shouted "The kid's with us, he's cool."

Jim grumbled and pouted; he walked over to Tommy and leaned into his ear. "You can't just bring new people in here Tommy, we don't have enough food or space for it."

"Man, shut up" Tommy said "We got more than enough space. The poor kid's camp just got attacked, alright." Tommy looked over at John "Everyone here works and does chores, he can pitch in, he's a strong kid."

John took his hand off of his knife and walked past Jim, giving him a look that could turn water into ice. He walked over to Ellie and followed her into the building. "I can't believe you guys have power."

"Well" Ellie said "We do live in a power plant." She laughed.

John followed Ellie into a large hall with florescent lights hanging over the floor. The hallway was lined with large metal doors. "So" Ellie said "These are the bedrooms." She pointed to the room all the way down on the left "That's my room and then Joel's next to mine." She drifted over to the room across from her own "This one's empty" She said "If you want it."

_Man, she was right when she said empty_ John thought as he walked into the small room. All that it contained was a twin sized bed. _I suppose it's better than sleeping on grass._ He thought as he plopped down on the mattress. "A lot more comfy than the woods, I'll give it that"

"Better than being on the road right?" Ellie leaned on the door "Do you wanna get some sleep?"

"Yeah sure" John said as he lay back in the bed, he laced his fingers together and put them behind his head.

"Okay then" Ellie said as she started to close the door.

"Hey, Ellie"

"Yeah" Ellie said as she pushed the door back open.

"Thanks" John sat up "For, you know, not leaving me in those woods."

"It wouldn't seem right to" She smiled as she shut the door.

Sleep didn't come easily to John. He tossed and turned for more than a half an hour before drifting off. After what seemed like two hours, he rolled over. The jagged points of his gun pushed into his side and his eyes shot open. "Damn" he swore "I should have taken this off." He rose slowly, easing the strength back into his aching muscles. Joel was very strong; being thrown by him was painful. After the usual head rush, John walked to the door and swung it open. He looked down the hallway, _It must be around six._ The smell that wavered into John's nostrils betrayed him, and he wandered down the hall. _Something's cooking_ he thought as he pushed through another door.

He wandered into the mess hall while dinner was in full swing. Plates with meager portions of food were being tossed around the tables. John shuffled past people as they sat down, engaged in conversation and ate. After minutes of searching, he found Ellie, Joel, Tommy, and a woman he did not know sitting down at a table in the back of the room. He walked over and Ellie noticed him before he sat.

"Hey, look who's up, I was just about to get you myself." She said as she set a plate in front of John.

"Yeah, thanks" He stared at the plate, roasted potatoes along with what looked like poultry. "You guys sure do eat well here" he said as he grabbed a piece of potato with his fingers. He stuffed the potato into his mouth and chewed vigorously. It wasn't seasoned, but tasted like heaven anyway.

"We have gardens and livestock" Maria said.

"John" Tommy addressed him "This is my wife Maria"

John nodded in reply, too busy eating to merit a true response. Ellie dug into her own meal "How long has it been since you ate?" she asked as she stuffed meat into her own mouth.

"Too long" He said through his full mouth. "About a week and a half, I've been wandering around in the woods for a while. Those bandits have been following me"

Joel didn't take kindly to this "Did they follow you here?"

"No" John said "Besides, you've already seen them here. Haven't you?"

"Well yeah" Tommy said "But there's more than one group of bandits."

Dinner flowed smoothly, and the conversation kept up for more than an hour between John, Ellie, and Tommy. Joel had stayed at the table, watching John's every move. Maria had left to check on the town. After another fifteen minutes, everyone rose, ready to go to bed and sleep in anticipation of the long day ahead tomorrow. "Well then Johnny boy, we'll have plenty of stuff for you to do tomorrow." Tommy slung an arm around John's neck. They walked back to the sleeping quarters.

"And here you are again" Tommy said as he walked off and up a staircase. "If you have any problems, talk to Ellie, if you have any problems that she can't solve, you'll have to wait till morning."

John scoffed "Great, here's hoping I don't have any major problems."

"You won't" Ellie assured him "Life here isn't simple, but it's not that hard either."

"Must have taken lots of work to get to this point" John leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, but you had the privillage of joining up while we're established." Ellie walked into her room.

"Hey" John stopped her "I didn't realize our conversation was done" he pushed the door open.

"It doesn't have to be" Ellie sat down on her bed and pulled her gun out, carefully placing it on the shelf next to her. John closed the door and sat down on a chair across from Ellie. "So" He said, "Where's your mother anyway?" he asked hesitantly

"In the same place as my dad" She said nonchalantly.

"Your mom's with Joel?"

"Joel's not my dad" She said as she laid back.

"Why are you living with him and his brother then?" John asked.

"Trust me, it's a very long story." She said "What about you? Are your parents…?"

"Alive? No" John scratched at his cheek. "My mother died about five years ago, my dad about five weeks ago." John leaned back in his chair "He was a cop before the infection."

Ellie had been told about cops, by Joel of course. They were officers who arrested people, like the military. "And he gave you that?" She pointed to the gun in John's shoulder holster.

"Yep, this was his .45"

"How old are you anyway" Ellie changed the subject.

"Sixteen, almost seventeen." He said.

"I'm turning sixteen soon." Ellie closed her eyes. "You should go get some more sleep. Long day tomorrow"

"Okay" John said as he stood up and opened the door. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

_Looking forward to it, _they both thought as they fell asleep


	7. Lambs to the Slaughter

**Chapter 7: Lambs to the Slaughter **

_They're getting too close, way too fast_ Joel thought as he observed John and Ellie, _I don't like it._ They were sitting together on one of the mess halls tables, trying to figure out a rubix cube.

"See," John said "Now I'm glad I was born after the end of the world, I don't have to see these things." He set it down on the table.

"Oh come on" Ellie said as she brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "That thing has been unsolved for twenty two years. You can do it."

And sure enough, after much cursing and frustration, John twisted the last piece of the rubix cube and set it down again. "And it only took the rest of the time we have off." Ellie chuckled. "Let's go, we have crops to water." She pulled him away as Joel scowled.

Joel was deep in thought _Something about this kid seems shifty, I don't know what, and I don't know how, but I'll be damned if I let Ellie get hurt. _He was about to walk off when a hand clapped down on his shoulder, startling him and causing him to turn abruptly.

"Tommy!" He panted "You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry brother" He laughed and started walking off with Joel. "How's our new boy looking?"

"He's productive, that's for sure" Joel said as he looked out the window.

"But?" Tommy said, sensing something else.

"I don't like the vibes he's giving me."

"What do you mean?" Tommy stopped. "Was he left alone with the electric fence?"

"No"

"Did he put something in the food?"

"No"

"Did he shoot someone or stab someone with that hunting knife?"

"No"

"Then why are you getting such 'bad vibes' about him" Tommy laughed. "He's been with us for a week."

"I don't know I don't like the look of him" Joel grumbled.

Tommy punched Joel's arm lightly, "I think you need to be a little more trusting."

Joel scowled and looked at his shoes. "The last time I trusted somebody, my daughter got shot."

He walked away from Tommy, leaving his brother in the dust. "Come on Joel, why you gotta…" Joel slammed the steel doors of the mess hall behind him and followed the path that John and Ellie took. He walked out into the gardens and found them both. Both of them were holding garden hoses and they were spraying the plants. John swooped his stream of water over the tomato plants as Ellie sprayed onion plants. They worked together in unison, while Ellie trimmed a basil leaf; John pulled a turnip out of the ground. Joel groaned again as he leaned up against a wall, listening in on the conversation between the two teenagers.

"What happened after that?" Ellie laughed as she sniffed at a plant's flowers.

John laughed as well as he finished his story. "So I asked my friend, is ten gallons enough?"

Ellie collapsed into a roar of laughter. Joel wasn't amused, maybe because he didn't hear the rest of the joke, most likely because he didn't care. "Oh man" Ellie said as she wiped a tear from her eye, "I wish I'd brought my joke book."

"You can always grab it when we head back" John said "Let's finish up here"

Joel kept following them as they went through Ellie's chores. Feeding the horses, delivering meat to the townspeople, cooking, cleaning, and trimming the growth near the wall. All was quiet…

Right up until the ear shattering explosion.

"Oh shit" Ellie swore as the earth seemed to rumble. John ran out of the room and into the courtyard. He ran back hurriedly with a look of horror on his face. He drew the pistol from his holster. "It's those fucking bandits again." Ellie drew her own gun and they ran outside. John threw open the door and the sunlight of late July filled his eyes. "It's the south wall" He said as Joel ran up behind them.

"Hey" Joel said as he pulled his revolver's hammer back. "Looks like we got unwelcome visitors."

Tommy was running towards them, flanked by Maria and Jim. All three of them carried rifles, which buckled as they ran. "We're being attacked; they're concentrating on the weakest part of the fence."

All of them ran at the town, letting everyone else pass them like a blur as they screamed for help. The wall was burning now, and they could see the smoke clouding the air as they heard shouts and gunshots. John pulled the slide back on his .45 caliber pistol and took cover as the bandits approached.

They were everywhere; they came from behind the buildings and out of doors. They set fire to every building they could by throwing fire bottles through the windows, igniting the wood and sending more smoke into the air.

"There's the little shit" One of the bandits said as he spotted John. He fired several times into the wall in front of the teenager. The bullets impacted the wall and sent mortar and brick flying. John reached his hand around the wall and fired three times, one of the slugs caught the bandit in the shoulder, sending bone splinters all over. He screamed as he fell to the ground.

"Another one bites the dust" John said as he moved over to Ellie, who fired into the bandit's stomach, killing him. Cut off one head and two more grow in its place. Kill one bandit and two more come lurking from the shadows. A man came running down the stairs, firing a shotgun and sending buckshot into the air. Joel aimed his revolver and breathed deeply. He fired and missed as the bandit ducked behind a low wall. Joel ran past John and Ellie, "I'm going around" He said as Tommy pulled the trigger on his rifle.

Joel slid under a fallen wooden beam and fired near the bandit again. The man ducked down to avoid the bullet and lost track of his enemy. His enemy, Joel, rolled behind another wall and checked his ammo. After reloading, he slid the revolver back into its holster. He leapt over the wall and onto the bandit. He raised a balled fist and slammed the man in the cheek, drawing blood on the first blow. On the second blow his nose was bent sharply to the right, broken. After the fifth blow, Joel had certainly knocked the man out, and almost taken his eye.

"Brutal" John remarked as he ducked his head down.

"Yeah, he grows on you" Ellie laughed as she took another shot and found her mark. The bullet went through the other bandit's head, sending blood and brain fluid out into the wall behind him.

They fought their way through several more adversaries. Mowing down bandit after bandit until they were growing low on ammo, when finally, the ringleader reared his head.

A man, most likely in his forties, emerged from the smoke. He wore a white tee shirt, covered with sweat, under a black denim jacket that rose up slightly when he but his arms in the air. "Thomas? He addressed Tommy as he stepped out of the shadows. "I know who you are Thomas; my boys have been watching this place for months."

Tommy stepped out of his cover and walked over, near John. "What do you want?" he trained his rifle onto the man's head. "Who are you?" he added.

"My name is Edward Shaw" He said "And I want your power plant."

"Well, then your dumber than you look" Tommy cocked his rifle.

"Hold on there Tommy." Edward said as he smirked. "I have a deal for you." He stepped forward, fixing his tee shirt as he did so. "If you surrender the plant to me and my… associates, you, you're family, and your townspeople will be allowed to live."

"And if we say no" Joel growled.

"Oh yes, I did forget about you, didn't I Joel? Quite the survivalist yourself huh? Good at survival bad at parenting" he chuckled to himself as he picked Joel's brain "Let's see, I know that your daughter was killed by a soldier, the day after your birthday" Shaw smiled devilishly and continued "Then, you lose the love of your life. All of this begs the question: What else do you have to lose?"Joel cringed and curled his hands into fists. His grip was so hard his fingernails nearly drew blood. _How does he know all of this? _Joel thought as Edward Shaw continued to monologue.

"As to your previous question: What happens if you do not agree to my terms? The answer is quite simple actually." He stepped backwards and raise his hands mockingly "If you refuse then I burn your town to the ground, kill you and your brother, and take this dam for myself." Shaw laughed eagerly with the very thought. "And of course, I'm sure my boys will find a warm little place in their hearts for the women of your little community." He smirked at Ellie and Maria evilly, his yellow stained teeth shone in the firelight.

"Or I could shoot you right now asshole" Ellie raised her gun and squeezed the trigger firmly.

"NO" John yelled and grabbed the gun as it fired, the round hit the ground and dirt flew into the air as Edward once again laughed to himself. "Smart little brat, aren't you?"

"Lift your shift" John commanded Shaw.

Edward gleefully obliged and pulled his tee-shirt up, revealing more than just a muscled frame. A series of wires and colorful pieces of metal lead to a large cartridge casing, a makeshift bomb.

"These assholes love their explosives." John said as he stepped away from Ellie. "I had a taste of one myself" he pointed to a large burn scar on his bicep. The dead flesh seemed to meld away into the rest of John's arm.

"Thomas, this bomb contains enough power to kill all of us." Shaw said "I'm going to leave now. You have five days to think on my terms. I will come back, with many more men, and when I do I expect my hydroelectric power plant wrapped up with a nice little bow." Shaw began to walk away, twitching and chuckling.

"It's a matter of life or death Thomas, life or death"

And then he vanished.

"There is no way we're giving up this plant right?" Ellie asked after Edward was long gone.

"We don't know how strong this guy is Ellie" Tommy said, "You saw what he did with one little bomb and a few men. There are at least ten townspeople dead, out of two hundred."

"What are you saying, Tommy?" Joel asked angrily.

"All that I'm saying is that we explore every option." Tommy raised his hands accusingly.

"You sound like you're ready to just pack up and leave because this sap blew a hole in a fence." Ellie accused.

John was the one to intervene "Look, I like life here… actually, I love life here. But Shaw isn't messing around, he's dangerous, I've met him more than once. He's sociopathic, he's a murderer, and he has no regard for his own safety. Those assholes that he totes around follow him like lambs to the slaughter. All he wants is this plant."

"What else do you know about him?" Maria asked as she reloaded her rifle.

"Well" John hesitated "He made the same offer to my camp a little while ago. The exact same offer, if you don't agree in five days, I storm your castle and kill your men, rape your women, then light you on fire afterward." John looked at his shoes. "He's been living in my old camp. But he's realized the only safe place in the entirety of Jackson is this plant, and he won't back down until we've been vacated. He'll fight to the death before giving up this dam."

"Anything else to add to your motivational speech?" asked Ellie


	8. Growing Closer

**Chapter 8: Growing Closer **

It was day number one. The first day after Shaw had attacked the plant. When night fell, they would have four more days. _Only five days _Ellie thought as she checked the armory with John. _We have five days to get his place defendable._ She loaded bullets into a rifle as John picked up another. They were getting ready for the attack, knowing full well that their defenses couldn't possibly survive another assault after the last time. It was too dangerous, the fence was exposed and anything could walk in while it was open. A pack of clickers could come from out of nowhere and start ripping people apart in the town. Tommy had wanted to think more about the decision to wait and be attacked, but Joel was very clear when he said they weren't giving up this plant for anything. Ellie thought he was right. After so long of living in Jackson, with everything going so perfectly, power, no infected, warm beds and hots water, she should have known that something would come along to ruin her dreams, like something always did.

Ellie set her gun down. "Do you think we have a chance against this guy?" Ellie asked.

"I don't want to say yes" John said "Because truthfully I don't know. He decimated my old camp with a few bombs and twenty men." He sighed. "I don't want to get killed by that maniac. He's nuts! He scares the shit out of me."

"Is he really that bad?" Ellie leapt atop the counter and sat down.

"You haven't even seen what he's capable of." John sat down next to her on the counter. A tiny tear drizzled from his eye, trailing down his cheek and hitting the floor. He obviously knew more than he was letting on, he had met Shaw before.

"What did he do?" Ellie grabbed John's hand and squeezed tight.

"He uh… he burned my mother alive" John said. "He had been following my group for months up to five years ago." John's face twisted and contorted as he recounted the tale. "He attacked. He charged in with a huge truck, and then he set fire to my house. It was an abandoned building I was staying in. I was out, my mother was stuck inside." John gripped the wooden counter and squeezed so hard it seemed like the wood was going to break. "I heard my mother scream as she burned to death. The other men from the group dragged me away. I watched the building burn to the ground as we ran away."

Ellie started panting. _Why am I so choked up? What's wrong with me? _She looked at his face, admiring the scar tissue running down his face. _He's actually pretty handsome_ She thought to herself as she mentally kicked at her head. _What are you saying, Ellie? Your just friends, you barely know him. I barely know anyone other than Joel, Tommy and Maria anyway. _She found herself raising a hand up to his face, cupping his cheek in her palm. "I'm so sorry." She said, leaning in slightly. His skin was rough and scarred, just like everyone else's. The skin was corse and hard to the touch, yet she wanted to run her hands down it. Somehow his face felt different, special. Ellie trailed her hand across John's face, every blemish and scar, every pimple and birthmark. She could feel his face getting hotter and warmer as she skidded closer to him. She laid her left hand on his thigh, on the dirty pair of black jeans he always wore, every day. The denim was stained with dirt and muck, and she could catch several loose strands of fibers in her fingers.

He smelled like the forest, like the woods. Ellie could catch the scent of blood on him. Whenever Ellie took a breath she inhaled trees and plants, flowers and bushes. She was so close to him now, she could feel his breath as he exhaled. The hot moist breath hit Ellie's cheek and she gasped softly. She couldn't breathe herself. "Have you ever…?" she began to ask.

"No" he said as his lips lingered even closer to her own. His lips inched closer and closer as Ellie's head started swimming in a million different directions. _I can't believe this _Ellie thought as she grabbed the back of his head softly, pulling him closer…

"HEY, how we doing on those…?"

Tommy had walked in. Ellie's foster uncle had arrived at quite possibly the worst time. "…guns?" he finished as he entered the room. Ellie tore away from John fast, pushing herself off of the counter and grabbing her gun.

"I have to go… um" She looked for words to say. _Goddamn it Tommy, why now? _"Polish these guns… over there." She ran out of the room and headed back towards her room, leaving Tommy and John behind.

"What the hell" Tommy said as John rushed past him, bumping into his shoulder. "Teenagers"

John followed Ellie down the hall, listening for her footsteps as she ran down the tiled floor. _She's heading for the roof_ he thought as he jogged to keep up with her. "Ellie!" he called as she ascended the stairs. He ran out of the building and onto the roof. The wind blew into his face as he did so, filling his lungs with the fresh air he desperately needed. "Ellie?" he called again as she looked off. "Ellie, what was that?" he asked.

"What was what?" She asked _Yeah, like playing dumb is going to help me_ she thought.

"I'm sorry, were you trying to smell my breath back there or kiss me?" John said.

"I don't know" She said "We did have onions in the meat today." She turned and smiled, her white teeth glistened in the sunlight.

_She's beautiful_ John thought _I didn't really see it until now_ He walked over to her, taking each delicate step with care. The sun burnt his eyes as he refused to stop looking at Ellie. "Your beautiful you know" he said, taking her hand in hers again. "So beautiful"

"You're not too bad yourself" She said as she wrapped her arms around his midsection. John grabbed her shoulders and leaned in. _Oh my god_ Ellie thought as she lost her breath again.

All sense left her as she leaned in herself, taking her arms away from his waist and to his head; she grabbed a loose bundle of John's hair and moved in. Her lips lingered ever closer to his, and then…

"Ellie!" she heard a shout coming from the stairs.

_Goddamn it Joel_

"Ellie?" Joel ran up the stairs and opened the door. John and Ellie separated the second Joel peaked his head around the corner. "We've got something" he said as he pushed the door open. "Come on downstairs.

* * *

I want to apologize for the long wait to this chapter. I wrote it once and didn't like it that much, so i re-did it and decided to put it up.

While you wait for my next chapter, i would greatly appreciate if some of you could check out some of my other stories. Specifically Giovanni Auditore da Firenze II:Assassin of Haven, A crossover between Assassin's Creed and the Jak and Daxter series for the PS2 (Also a Naughty Dog series). I would love for some reviews for my other stories (Some of them aren't as good as this one, as i did start them when i was younger, all i ask is that you try to read it from beginning to end and tell me what you honestly think.

I will try to get chapter 9 of this story up in the next few days or this week.


	9. You Better Be Worth It

**Chapter 9: You Better Be Worth It**

**Now**

"Ellie!" John half yelled half whispered to the girl to his left. "In the tree"

Ellie whipped around, her hair flailed around as she did so. Sweat poured down her face in the heat of late August. Her clothes stuck to her body as she ran to John, narrowly passing trees and tumbling over fallen logs, branches and twigs. "Fuck" she swore to herself as she almost tripped over a rock. The hideous tell tale screams, moans and clicking followed her as she brushed past trees with haste.

John was climbing into the large oak tree. His well developed upper body allowed him to scale the thick trunk with ease. The teenager dug his bare hands into the wood and bark, pulling himself up and over the branches and resting in a v shaped pair of branches. "What are you waiting for? Christmas? Let's go" he yelled at Ellie as she approached the base of the tree.

_Here we go with Christmas again. _Ellie thought as she grabbed a branch. "It's not my fault you have longer legs than I do" she said as she started climbing.

"Just focus on putting one hand in front of the other right now." John said, grabbing the rifle slung across his shoulder and taking aim. He pulled the bolt back, and it snapped with a reassuring _click_. "Alright fuckers" he said as he took a breath and fired. He could see the blood splatter with his scope. The bolt was pulled back again before the body had fallen to the ground.

"This is fucked up" Ellie said as she reached John. The teenage girl wiped sweat from her brow as she grabbed her bow, along with the only arrow she had left. She drew the string back and placed the arrow. Ellie took aim, and loosed the arrow at the closest body. The twigs and branches crumbled under the falling body as Ellie chuckled.

"We're not out of the woods yet…" John said as he turned to Ellie and frowned. "Where the hell is your pack?" he asked as he noticed the missing bag.

"I got grabbed okay" she looked around for a weapon, having just lost her last arrow. "I had to let it go, we can go back and get it after." She pulled out her pistol and checked her ammo. _Only five rounds left, better make em' count._

"If we even get out of this fucking tree." John said as he let a round loose into another skull.

"Did I ever tell you how much of an optimist you really are?" Ellie asked sarcastically.

"No, but I'm sure you were thinking it from the moment we met, sweat heart" he responded just as sarcastically.

The minutes dragged on as several more screaming sacks of meat ran at them. If John didn't get them, Ellie did. If Ellie didn't get them, then they were howling at the base of the tree.

"Hey?" Ellie asked as she fired her second to last bullet.

"What?" John, also running low on rounds.

"What do you get from a pampered cow?" Ellie asked

John's face grew an exasperated look "Really, now is the time for jokes?"

"Might as well die with a smile on your face, right?"

**Two Hours Ago**

"Ellie?" Joel ran up the stairs and opened the door. John and Ellie separated the second Joel peaked his head around the corner. "We've got something" he said as he pushed the door open. "Come on downstairs.

Joel was gone as quickly as he had come up. John and Ellie were still staring at each other, unable to comprehend what they meant to each other. Friends? Something more? Neither of them knew the answer to this question. Ellie shuffled over to the door and beckoned for John to join her.

"Let's go see what's up" she said "Then we can talk later."

"Agreed" John said as he walked through the door, descending the stairs and going back into the hallway. Joel and Tommy were in the small room used for private meetings. Tommy had a map of Jackson County spread out on the table and a notepad resting on the table. "Well what do you think?" he asked Joel as he pointed the pencil he was using at the map.

"Maybe" The older man scratched at his beard. "Kinda small to have so many bandits living there. What about the hotel here" Joel poked at another section of the map. "It has plenty of sleeping space, a big parking lot, and the entrance was fenced over from the last fellers who were there."

"Yeah" Tommy said "But remember the entire back wall of the lobby got blown apart years ago. It's all fucking exposed, Shaw wouldn't hide out there." Tommy crossed the name out on the notepad and made a small x on the map."

"Shit" Joel said "Forgot about that."

Ellie decided to interject here "What's up?" she asked.

Tommy slid the map across the large table. "We're trying to find Shaw" he said.

Joel wrote something on his own notepad "We're going to try to kill him first before he even gets a chance to attack."

"So" John said "Your looking for probable locations."

"Yeah" Tommy said "Except Jackson is pretty big. It's all woods and freeways. There's only one town in the entire county."

"Huh" John groaned as he looked over the map. "Springside." His fingers trailed over the name of the town.

"So what are we gonna do?" Ellie asked.

"We're going out in groups and checking over all of the marked locations" Tommy said "We got plenty of maps to hand out."

"Alright" Joel said, grabbing the map of the table and folding it. "Ellie, let's get a move on" he motioned for the teen to follow him out the door.

"Actually" she stopped him in his tracks with her words. "I think I'm gonna go with John." She said nonchalantly.

"What?" Joel asked, turning around.

"Well, I thought since he knows the woods around here, and Tommy knows the woods around here, I could go with him and you could go with Tommy."

Joel mused this over, wondering what was going on. After seconds of intense staring, he gave in. "Fine, I'll go with Tommy."

"Okay then" Ellie said as she walked back towards her room to grab her bag. John went to follow but was stopped by Joel, who grabbed his arm sharply and tugged with incredible force.

"I guess she likes you more than she likes me now huh?" Joel asked John as he pushed him away. "I'm going to tell you this once, and only once: if anything happens to Ellie, from getting shot, to tripping, to getting too much mud on her shoes, I will cut your head off with that knife hanging from your belt and stick it on a fucking spike."

**Twenty Minutes Later**

"Let's go John" Ellie beckoned "Your so slow, snap the reins"

John and Ellie were sitting on a horse together, John at the reins and Ellie clutching at his midsection to stay balanced. They were forced to take one horse, as the other groups had needed them as well.

"I've never been very good with animals" John said as he turned the horse to the right down the path. The road opened up here into several paths. "Grab the map, we should have about four places to check."

Ellie unfolded the map, "Tommy told us to check out the town." She said as she traced her fingers over the paper. "Springside, you know where that is?" She asked

"Yeah, down the road a ways." He said "It's not off the beaten track, but it's on the other side of the county. We can get there in about an hour." He snapped the reins hard, kicking the horse into a smooth gallop.

"Man" Ellie said "I wish there was a breeze. Must be close to ninety today." She wiped sweat from her face and took a deep breath.

"Drink some water" John told her as they went from the power plant's dirt track to the paved freeway. Ellie took off her backpack and unzipped it. She pulled a leather skin from the bag and uncorked it. She drank deeply, letting cool water ease its way down her throat. After she took a sip she poured a small amount onto her head, then whipped her hair around.

"Want some?" she offered her skin to John as the horse's hooves galloped on the road. John grabbed the skin eagerly and took a small sip. Handing it back to Ellie, they crossed a stream and headed into the woods.

"It'll be faster if we cut through here." John said as he maneuvered around the trees.

"Alright" Ellie said as she put the water skin back into her pack. "Let's just not get lost."

"Relax" He said "I trailed through these woods for days before I found you guys. I know these trees like the back of my hand."

"You better" She said, "If we die out here, I'll kill you"

He laughed as they moved out of the path of the sunlight. The shadows of the trees reflected off of them as they moved farther into the woods. They could hear moans and screams from where they were.

"Fuck" Ellie said as she heard the sounds "Is that coming from nearby?" she asked John, squeezing his back slightly tighter.

"No" he said as he focused on hearing. "Sounds pretty far off, just be on your guard."

"I don't want to be a statistic" She said as she pushed a tree branch out of her way.

"What's that supposed to mean?" John asked, puzzled.

"Dunno, I heard it in a movie once." Ellie brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes "I thought it'd be a cool thing to say."

"Alright then" John said as he snapped the reins.

**Now**

"Shit" John said "They're getting closer." He squeezed the trigger with force, letting another precious bullet fly from the barrel of the rifle.

"The gunshots are attracting more of them." Ellie told him.

"You got a better idea?"

"No" she said "Keep shooting."

The ravenous cries and moans and screams from the former people down below were like dragging a fingernail across a chalkboard. The horrifying sounds of the screeching infected brought fear to the two survivors. John fired again, killing a clicker with a round to the chest.

"Focus on the clickers" He said as Ellie pulled a sharp branch from the tree. She threw the branch at one of the mushroom headed bodies. But, although sharp, the stick did nothing more than get stuck in the mushy fungus and irritate the clicker.

"They're coming from every angle" John remarked as more runners bolted over to them. "We gotta get out of this tree." He peered over the back side. "You go first, I'll cover you."

"Okay" the brown haired girl said, jumping out of the tree. She ran off, bumping away a runner, who was shot in the head. John leapt from the branches of the oak and landed hard, falling over into the mud. He turned himself over as a clicker noticed him, and began to approach. "Fuck" he exclaimed as he heard a gunshot, and saw Ellie standing twenty yards away. "COME ON" she yelled at him.

John found his feet and ran after Ellie. "Thanks for the save" he said as he strapped the hunting rifle around his shoulder.

"That was my last bullet." She said "You better be worth it." Ellie chuckled.

"I defiantly am."

"Let's try to find the horse."

**One Hour Ago**

"Can we stop now?" Ellie asked as she spotted the first building.

"Yeah" John said "Get off, we'll eat something."

He stopped the horse next to a sign that had large letters painted onto it. 'Springside' it read. "At least we're close" John said as he tied the horse to a wooden post next to the sign.

Ellie sat down on a large rock near the sign. She let her arms fly out of the backpack's straps and sighed as she rummaged through it. "I've got some jerky in here" She pulled out a paper wrapped package "You want some?"

"Yeah sure." He said, taking the meat and chewing "Is this venison?"

"Yeah," She said as she grabbed a piece for herself "Killed it myself."

"A fighter, not a lover" he laughed.

"Can't I be both?" she asked as he sat down next to her.

"I suppose" he said. "Got any water left?"

"Yeah" she handed him the skin.

After another twenty minutes of conversation and eating, they were back on the horse and galloping towards the town. The horse's hooves clattered on the pavement as they rode in. "I don't like the sound his hooves are making." John said. "Let's hitch him up and go on foot."

"You sure?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah" he said "Town's not that big anyway, we won't go far."

They tied the horse up outside the post office. "Let's head towards town hall" John said as they headed down the street.

"Have you been here before?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah" John said "I passed through and stayed for about a day. Shaw found me eventually and burned down the building I was in." he pointed to a smoldering wreck towards the east. "I ran out in the other direction and met you guys the next day." He sighed "I thought I had lost Shaw by then, I didn't mean to lead him to the plant."

Ellie scoffed "He would have found the place anyway, he probably already had. Otherwise, how could he have known about our defenses?"

"I don't know, had anyone else new come in before me?" I asked.

"You think we might have a…" She started "What do you call it? A rat?" she asked.

"Somebody's been spying on you for Shaw" John said "he did it to my camp."

John rounded the corner and checked for infected. "Looks clear, it's a straight shot to town hall." He pointed down Main Street towards the large marble pillared building. Ellie broke into a jog after John, following the older teen's boot tracks in the dirt. They approached the building. "There might be somebody in there" John said "Get your bow out, take em' out all silent like." They crouched down behind a collapsed wall and checking out the front entrance. The large wooden doors were left open.

"Do you really think they would leave the front doors open?" Ellie asked.

"I don't know," he said "There's a huge records department in the basement they could be using."

"Alright," Ellie moved out of cover and over to one of the marble columns. She peeked her head out and checked the entrance hall. "It's clear" she whispered over to John, who followed her lead into the building.

"Looks pretty deserted" John remarked. "Upstairs, then we'll get the basement." John ran up the stairs. The sunlight from the windows poured into the hall as John and Ellie strolled down the carpet. John pointed at an ajar door. "There's a light streaming from that door." He crouched down, minimizing his movement to a crawl. He opened the door slightly, just enough to peek in. A flashlight was positioned on a desk, pointing towards the door. A chair was facing away from the door. There was a person in the chair. Infected didn't sit down to rest, they rested standing straight up. The man in the chair wasn't infected. John pulled his hunting knife from the sheath on his belt. The blade made a small _snick_ as it came out. John pushed the door open fully, hoping that it wouldn't squeak. Putting one foot in front of the other, he crept over to the person. John shoved his hand over the man's mouth and tightened his grip on the knife. He shoved the sharp blade into the throat and twisted, ripping the innards out and splattering pieces onto the wall. The man hadn't made a noise or a move.

"What the hell?" John asked himself as he looked over the body. It was decayed and the blood was dry. The person had been dead for a while.

"The blood's dry" Ellie noted "This guy

"Yeah" John said "The smell's catching up to me now." He checked the man over, digging into the corpse's pockets and found several shotgun shells. John looked to his left and noticed a sawn-off shotgun gleaming in the corner.

"Nice" he remarked as he grabbed the shotgun and opened it up. It already had two shells in the barrel, fully loaded. "Know what this is?" he asked Ellie.

"I've seen plenty of shotguns John." She laughed and walked out of the room.

"This isn't just any shotgun, Ellie." John said as he followed her "It's a lupara"

"What?" Ellie asked.

"The guns that the Sicilian bodyguards use in _The Godfather_." John said as if it were common knowledge.

"Really? It's the same gun?" Ellie asked, now interested.

"Yeah," John put his finger on the wood "Look at the markings."

"Cool" Ellie said as they walked down the hallway. "Let's check out the basement."

They walked down the wooden stairs and into the lower levels. The floorboards creaked as they stepped down the hallway. John was able to level the shotgun with one hand as they crept down the hallway through different doors. John and Ellie flipped on their flashlights as they proceeded down the dark corridor.

"There" John pointed at a pair of large wooden doors. "That's the records area, it's huge, big enough to hold dozens of bandits."

The two teenagers strutted to the doors and each grabbed a handle. "Alright" Ellie said "Pull" they gripped the large brass pieces and pulled them open all the way. The two separate doors opened and John and Ellie pushed them against the walls. They were about to walk into the records room, when they heard it. _Click…Click…Click. _

"Fucking shit." John said as a clicker rounded the corner. "I think it's safe to say they're not here."

"At least it can't see us" Ellie whispered.

As if by a jinx, a runner rounded the corner after the clicker and started screaming. Ellie took a step back as the infected started running at them across the hall. "At least it's just two" John said as he leveled his shotgun. That was when more rounded the corner. Clickers and runners, all heading at them, top speed. More than a dozen infected beasts were sprinting at them.

"Fuck" John said "RUN"

They both darted out of the room at full speed. Without any time to shut the large wooden doors, the infected swarmed out of the records room like clockwork. John and Ellie's shoes pounded on the tiled floors as they ran out of the building, out onto Main Street again.

"Get back to the horse" John yelled as they rounded the corner. He turned his head to look at the large horde following them with fury. He leveled the shotgun and fired. The closest runner's head split open when the buckshot made contact. Other metal balls hit the clicker next to the runner and almost took it's arm off. John fired again and the clicker's chest cavity exploded in a wave of red blood. They ran over to the post office, where the horse was supposed to be hitched. But it wasn't.

"Fuck," Ellie swore "How did it get free?" She asked.

"I don't know just keep moving and don't stop." John pointed into the forest. "We'll lose em' in the woods, come on." He kicked up the pace, making the longest strides possible and outrunning Ellie. Ellie grabbed her pistol and pumped three rounds into the nearest infected body.

They were getting into the woods now, dodging trees and rocks. The infected were slower in the mud, dirt, twigs and grass than they were on the pavement. The downside was, so were John and Ellie. Ellie was running up a hill, trying to match John's pace. She felt a sharp tug as something grabbed her backpack. "Shit" She said as she wiggled her arms out of the straps. _No, not that bag_. The large army green bag had been with her through the entire trek to find the Fireflies, she couldn't leave that bag behind. Sadly, it was that bag, or her life. Ellie managed to snag her bow and a single arrow from the bag as the runner pulled it off of her.

John was had a good fifty yard lead on her, but had stopped for Ellie at the base of an oak tree. He obviously wanted to climb it to safety.

"Ellie!" John half yelled half whispered to the girl to his left. "In the tree"

**Now**

"Where did that fucking mare go?" John asked himself as he and Ellie passed another road. They were still running from the pack of infected and were now looking for their horse.

"Don't lose focus" Ellie told him, "Keep running."

They had circled back into the town and were bolting towards the post office. "Go to the right" John commanded. They ran over to the right side of the building and into an alley.

"John this is possibly the worst place to be right now" Ellie stammered.

"What other choice do we have?" he asked "GO"

They ran through the alley and into a large clearing behind the post office. John was still dwindling the infected numbers with the shotgun. "It's a straight shot" Ellie yelled.

They ran across the field as fast as they could. Both of them were running out of steam, the energy seemed to be sucked away from them. "Oh my god" Ellie exclaimed and pointed. "The horse." The brown mare was standing at the edge of the woods. With a sudden burst of speed, the two teens reached the horse and mounted it. John snapped the reins hard and they galloped out of the clearing.

"We have to go back for my bag." Ellie told him. "I grabbed some stuff from the town hall, pretty useful" John turned the horse and steered clear away from the horde of infected. "Fuck" he said "That was close." John and Ellie rounded back to the other side of the woods, where Ellie grabbed her backpack.

"Spoiled milk" Ellie said after a five minute silence.

"What?" John asked, confused.

"What do you get from a pampered cow?" Ellie laughed "spoiled milk." She chuckled.

John sighed and shook his head. "You sure know the best time to crack a joke Ellie"

"So, what do you think of our first adventure together?" Ellie asked John as they got on the road back to the plant.

"I think your bad luck." John laughed.

"Maybe" She said. "Just maybe. Hey, stop here for a second." She had him stop onto the side of the road. They both dismounted the horse and tied it securely to a pole.

"What's up?" John asked.

"Back on the roof?" Ellie stumbled through the words. "Were you… I mean… did you want…?"

John stopped her words by putting a finger to her lips softly. He leaned in slowly, for what Ellie thought was an eternity. John wiped a strand of hair away from her forehead and smiled. _How can she smell so good living in this world _John thought as he inched closer. He turned his head and moved in.

Their lips met with a soft touch, and Ellie's head exploded with excitement.


	10. Inprovisation

**Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. We're in the double digits now! As always I ask that everyone read and review the story. Also, check out my profile for other stories written by yours truly. **

**Enjoy the new chapter**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Improvisation**

"You know what John?" Ellie said "I think I just might like you."

"Really?" John laughed "I'm glad I appeal to your high standards. Let's get back to the dam before it starts getting cold."

John was right, the weather was changing. It was getting more and more chilly as they rode along. Even in early September, rain was beginning to drip through the thick foliage and douse the two teenagers. Rough drifts of rouge wind pushed through their thin clothing and chilled their bones. Ellie clutched tighter to John as the wind came back.

"Damn, it's cold" She said as she squeezed his midsection.

John snapped the reins of the horse and looked around. "I don't think I recognize this bit." He said as he turned the horse away from the woods and back towards the open plains. "Grab the map."

Ellie slid her recently recovered backpack off of her shoulders and rummaged through it. She pulled an extra magazine for John's gun out and handed it to him. "Thanks" he said as she continued to look in her bag.

"Fuck" she whispered to herself.

"What is it?" John asked.

"I…" she hesitated "I think the map fell out when I got grabbed."

John stopped the horse in the middle of the dirt trail. "Alright, let's hop off and check again." He dismounted the horse and tied the reins to a branch. "Empty your bag."

Ellie knelt down and unzipped her bag, she reached inside and pulled out the contents. The rest of their water, half full. A bag of dried fruits and nuts, along with a meager amount of cooked venison. A portable CD player, "You got batteries for this?" John asked.

"I think so" she said back to him as she pet the horse. John peeked back into the bag. Three arrows, her joke book, a small journal, two pencils, and a few… womanly items.

Ellie snatched the small bundle of female products away quickly as John tried to fight a laugh. There was no use for manners in this world anyways. "I doubt those are going to help us get home" he said

She chuckled, sat down and crossed her legs. John checked the side pockets and found a length of rope, a few 9 millimeter cartridges. He reached all the way back into her bag and felt… glass. He took a firm grip and pulled out a bottle. "What the hell is this?" he read the label on the bottle. "Jack Daniels Scotch Whiskey?" He turned to look at Ellie, who gave a look of embarrassment.

"What?" she said "I found it. I figured, this one chance to try it, why not?"

"Where was it?" John examined the bottle.

"In that office with the dead guy you stabbed, I found it in a drawer." She scratched her forehead "I figured, it wasn't open anyway, so there's no problem" she shrugged. "Why, are you going to wimp out on me?"

John shrugged as well "Trust me, we don't wanna be stuck here when Jackson County gets cold." He slid the bottle back into the bag. John looked up at the setting sun. "It's almost six. It'll be dark soon."

"So, should we focus on bunkering down or finding our way back?"

John shook his head and stood up. "I wanna say getting back to the plant, but it'll be way easier finding our way back during the daylight."

"Well then" she put everything back into her bag and put it on. "Look inside your bag, if the map isn't there, we should camp somewhere."

John scoffed "If we don't freeze to death." He opened his own bag and rummaged through it. Rifle, extra ammo, shotgun, notepad, sharpening stone for his knife, and a length of wire for use as a garrote were all he had on him. "Shit" he swore.

"You don't have it huh?" Ellie asked

"No" John said "I wish we hadn't been swarmed by those infected, we could have been back by now."

"No changing it now" his companion said. "Let's try to find somewhere concealed, could be infected all over these woods now."

"Good idea" he untied the horse and mounted. "Come on" he held out a hand to Ellie and pulled her up.

"What a gentleman" she joked as she poked at his ribs.

He laughed and snapped the reins. The pair rode up a steep hill to overlook the area they had traversed. "I can see the town hall" Ellie said, pointing to the right. Sure enough, the large building was peeking out into sight behind a large tree. "Okay" John nodded, writing it down on his notepad.

"Painting a picture?" Ellie teased.

"I'm trying to map out where we've been, and whether or not we came from this direction." He pointed away from the town. "Or from there" he pointed around the other side.

"Okay" she said "Well, if the town hall is peeking out that way, and we came up to it from… Shit"

"I don't remember either." He sighed as he continued to sketch. "Let's get back down there before it gets dark"

He kicked the horse into gear again and they were off, galloping down the hill. "Shit" Ellie swore as she heard a faint noise. "Is it close?" she asked.

"I don't wanna say it was far, seeing as what happened the last time I did." John turned to narrowly miss a huge bolder. "Just keep your eyes open. I won't let anything happen to you."

Ellie almost let out a 'aww' before she shook her head and came to her senses. "Do you see that over there?" she pointed out to the left.

"What?" he squinted and looked off into the distance. "A cave" he said as he shivered. "That's perfect." He snapped the horse again. Within minutes they were at the entrance to the cave, a somewhat dry opening of rock that led back far into the hill. "Let's walk all the way back and make sure there's nothing there." He turned on his flashlight and strapped it to his belt. John pulled his knife from the belt and held it at the ready. They walked the cave until the finally reached the back, "You see anything" Ellie asked.

"No…" he started "You hear that?" he moved his ear away from his body, crooking his neck.

The flap of leather wings and the red eyes gave it all away to Ellie as John was swarmed by a group of bats. "Christ" he said as the winged creatures flew past.

Ellie laughed hard "Oh man, you jumped so high." She grabbed his arm and pulled him away towards the mouth of the cave.

"That's not funny" John said sternly.

"Yeah, it kinda is." She chuckled again. "Let's set up close to the mouth, but not too close." She pointed out a spot. "Don't want anyone spotting us."

"Your smarter than you look" John set his backpack down and laughed.

"Asshole" she struck him lightly on the arm and plopped down against the cave wall. He sat down next to her after he secured the horse to a stalagmite. Ellie hesitated at first, but then wrapped her arm around his shoulder, pulling him in ever so closer.

He looked at her in surprise. "What?" she said, "I'm just trying to conserve body heat."

He laughed and grabbed her by the waist. She leaned into his cheek and pressed her lips onto his face, feeling the cold pale skin. "You know what?" she asked.

"What?"

"This isn't half bad." She smiled "Of all the people you could be stuck with in the woods, I'm glad I'm with you."

"Gee thanks" he said. "I'd be glad to die next to you."

"That's not saying much these days." She poked at his nose.

"I guess I'll have to improvise a little then." he grabbed her cheek and pressed his lips to her own, tasting the small amount of food they had eaten the past morning. John was slightly surprised when Ellie's tongue slithered into his mouth and met his, but still held her closer.

"Wow" he said as he broke the kiss. "That was… enthusiastic"

"Yeah" she said, breathing heavily. "I've been waiting a while for that."

He laughed "For... a week and a half."

"You're an attractive guy." Ellie wouldn't admit it to anyone, but ever since she had turned fifteen, she began thinking more about the opposite sex. Some nights, she would think about the magazine she had taken from Bill's hideout in Lincoln. She sort of had wished she hadn't thrown it away, these thoughts proved too embarrassing to share it with anyone else however, so Ellie's dirty secrets would stay hidden.

She couldn't hide her attraction to John however. He was strong, almost like Joel was, yet different. Not to say Ellie was physically attracted to Joel, defiantly not. Of course there was an almost thirty year age gap between the two, yet, they seemed somewhat alike. They were both tough, John seemed much more innocent then Joel, more carefree and easier to joke around with. Ellie tried her hardest to keep her eyes away from John's jeans, and to keep her thoughts away from what was inside them.

Ellie could see John's eyes wandering as well. She knew he was peeking at her chest whenever they weren't fighting or working. She had seen him looking as she walked away, but could she blame him, she did the same to him. What other options were there? They were most likely the only two people of the same age in the entire state right now. Ellie couldn't deny she liked him, and it didn't hurt that he wasn't bone ugly.

They sat like that for a while, smudged together while sharing body heat and tongue wrestling. It seemed almost peaceful in the dark cave, with only their breath hitting each other's faces to know the other was there. After about an hour, Ellie finally had the idea.

"Hey" she turned on the flashlight and shining it on her bag. She reached inside and pulled out the bottle of whiskey. "Buy me a drink mister?"

"Oh god" he said smirking. "You really think now is a good time?"

"Why not?" she pouted, "We'll be here all night anyway." She laid her hand on his leg. "Come on, I don't wanna drink alone, but I defiantly will."

"This is a bad idea" he grabbed the bottle from her and opened it.

"Have you ever drank before?" she asked him as he took a sip from the bottle.

"Once, with my dad, I never got… drunk though" he told her "Just one bottle of beer." John handed the bottle over to Ellie. "Don't take too big of a sip" he warned "It's pretty strong."

She pressed the bottle to her lips and poured the liquor into her mouth. She drank slowly, almost coughing at first. The alcohol tasted strange and foreign to her mouth, but still good. "Not bad"

They spent the next hour drinking and talking, not being able to fall asleep until the alcohol kicked in. They began exploring more with each other, not just physically, but with their own history as well, different stories, funny ones, sad ones, adventurous ones. Of course they did explore more physically as well, with Ellie running her hands up and down John's chest and John having his hands on her thighs. They never went any further than that, kissing, touching less… sensitive areas, and keeping their clothes on. Ellie knew what sex was, and knew what to expect from her classes at the Boston QZ, but didn't know if she was ready yet, if she was, then John was the one she was going to do it with. She couldn't tell if this was her or the scotch thinking. Maybe the thoughts were there and the whiskey was bringing them out, she wasn't sure.

He took another sip from the whiskey as Ellie finally drifted off to sleep, her head nuzzled on his chest. John's head was swimming, wonder how far they were going to take this. Whether or not it was a good idea. He liked her, he really liked her, but between Joel and the fucked up world they lived in, being in a relationship didn't exactly bode well.

Ellie was out like a light, snoring ever so slightly in his arms. He smiled as he ran his hand down her arm, feeling the tough muscle. He was about to lie his head back himself when he felt a bump. Then another on Ellie's arm, he grabbed the flashlight and turned it on. He felt rough skin on Ellie's forearm, a huge amount of dead tissue. John shone the light on her arm and pulled the black sleeve up.

"What the fuck?"


	11. Hangover

**Another short chapter, I started this one right after I posted chapter ten, hope you enjoy, wrote it out pretty quick, hope it's not rushed. **

**Chapter 11: Hangover**

"Jesus fucking Christ"

John's eyes, despite the large amount of alcohol he had ingested, shot right open. He had thought Ellie would wake given the noise he had made. Ellie was much smaller than he was, and couldn't process the whiskey like he did, it would take longer to go through his system than it would hers. Now she was out, she was staying like that until morning. He could have slapped her and she wouldn't have woken up.

He wanted to slap her right now, sadly he was against hitting women. John let his head lean into the rock wall again and slammed it against the rock. "Oh my God"

Ellie was infected? How could that have happened? When? Did she get grabbed and bit? It was defiantly a bite, the corrupted skin was completely dead and infected. His head was swimming and he couldn't think, couldn't sleep.

_What if I fall asleep and she turns? _He asked himself. He looked at the girl in disgust, refusing to believe what was happening.

He didn't have time to contemplate this more before he passed out from all the whiskey.

BREAK

"Hey, handsome" The familiar voice called to John as he stirred. Ellie, the same girl he had spent the last almost 48 hours with, was standing over him.

He jumped of course, reaching for the knife on his hip. When he realized Ellie wasn't foaming at the mouth or trying to eat him, his heart rate declined.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she pulled one of her shoes on.

"Yeah" he said "What about you?" he asked

"I'm fine" she said as he rose. John clamped his hand on her forehead, feeling for hot spikes.

_No fever_ he thought _She should be burning right now_. "You have sweat on you." He said, wiping it off and thanking God she really was sweating. "How'd you sleep?" he asked as he grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder and moving to the horse. John grabbed the reins and loosened the horse.

"Fine" she said "It's the waking up part that I hated." She slid the belt she had taken off the night before into the loops of her jeans and tightened it.

"Yeah, that's the hangover" he said getting onto the horse and pulling her up with him. She wrapped herself onto him and nibbled on his shoulder.

"DON'T bite me!" he snapped loudly, the cave echoed the phrase ten times.

She flew back, almost falling off the horse. She grabbed his shoulder. "Sorry, okay, no biting" she lightly massaged his shoulders, which had some major kinks to be worked out. "I'll remember that" she whispered in his ear.

Ellie wasn't sure what was wrong with him. Most likely the headache that came with the night of drinking. They still had a fourth of the bottle left. "We should get back soon. Joel is probably freaking out right now"

_I can't decide whether I'd rather be killed by an infected Ellie or an angry Joel._ John thought to himself as they exited the cave and started riding back to the town.

* * *

"Where the fuck are they?" Joel asked his brother in anger.

"They probably got stuck cause' of the storm" Tommy said as he put his feet up on the table. "They'll be back soon."

"I don't know" Joel said

"Joel, it's been a year. There is no threat from the Fireflies." Tommy said.

"That's what you say, you didn't see all of them in the hospital." Joel rubbed his chin. "There were dozens of em' Tommy"

"And you say their all coming after you and Ellie because you killed most of them?"

"Yes" Joel drank a gulp of water from his glass. "Why's that so hard for you to believe? I brought Ellie there, to manufacture the cure with the scientists. When the Fireflies saw me they freaked out and fired at us. I fired back, they sent more, no choice."

"And Marlene?" Tommy let his feet down "What about her?"

"Causality of war baby brother." Joel lied "She was trying to calm em' down. She took a stray bullet."

Joel didn't want to lie to his brother. Especially when it pertained to something so important, Joel knew Tommy wouldn't take his side. There was no way. Tommy believed in the sacrifice of one for many. Joel couldn't wrap his head around that anymore. He cared too much for that little girl to let her go. She wasn't exactly little anymore though.

"What aren't you telling me Joel?" Tommy asked, leaning forward in his chair.

_Everything_ Joel thought to himself. "Nothing"

"All those poker games with Grammy thirty years ago" Tommy sighed "I know all your tells big brother. I know when your lying."

"And I know when your trying to bullshit me Tommy." Joel stood up and walked out the door. "I've told you about the hospital over fifty times, get over it" he slammed the door hard and walked away.

* * *

"Home sweet home" Ellie said as they galloped up to the gates. "Never thought I'd see it again."

John stayed silent as she taunted him. Ellie smacked her in the arm "No snappy comebacks about me lacking faith in your sense of direction."

He shook his head quickly and gave the stablemaster the horse. "Go see Joel" he said, "Make sure he knows your alright. Then meet me on the roof." He walked away, leaving Ellie in the dust as she shrugged her shoulders.

"What the fuck" she scratched her head and sighed. "Hangover I guess"

She walked back towards the main building and found Joel in the dining hall. Ellie waved to him and he turned his head sharply. He walked over quickly as she took off her bag and placed it on a table. "Where the fuck have you been?" he gave her a short hug.

"Oh we had to take a short detour" The young woman told him as they sat down. "Stayed the night in a five star hotel."

"Where?" he growled.

"By the town." She said "In a cave."

Joel handed her a water bottle. "Did you two run into any trouble out there?" he asked, brushing his thick hair back.

"Big hoard of infected."

Joel's face wavered as he stared her down. "And?"

"We got away without any problems." Ellie said after taking a sip from her water. "It was perfect."

"You find anything on Shaw during your date?"

Ellie laughed at the word 'date'. Which roughly described the event in question. Ellie smiled fondly on the hours they had spent huddled in that dry cave together. She could lie to everyone else, but defiantly not to herself. She enjoyed being in that tight squeeze with John, she felt safe with him. "Not really."

"What does not really mean?" he asked

"No Joel, we didn't find anything" she chuckled

"How about him?"

"John?" Ellie asked as Joel nodded. "It was fine, he's good at killing things" _He's good at other things too._ "I was glad he was with me."

"The next time we go out, it'll be you and me kid." Joel gave her an extremely rare smile, a short, small one.

Ellie nodded "Yeah, we'll see."

_We'll see_ Joel thought _Are you kidding me?_ he thought as she got up and walked away, grabbing her bag as she did so. Ellie headed to the roof and climbed the large steel ladder. John was sitting on the large, non usable chimney that occupied the roof.

"John?" she called out to him.

"Hey" he said back, scratching his leg and stretching his neck. Ellie walked over to him and dropped her bag on the floor. She let herself down on his lap, allowing her full body weight to rest on his upper leg. "What's up?" she wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked at his cheek.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he said morbidly, as if he was near death.

"Tell you what?" she stopped and met his gaze.

"We were out there the whole time and you couldn't let me know." John said "I was supposed to watch your back."

She got off of him and sat across from him "Your kinda freaking me out." The teenager said "Any particular reason your acting insane."

"Pull up your sleeve" his eyes looked like they could cut steel by looking at it.

"What?" she asked, puzzled and confused.

John rose to his feet and yelled "Pull your sleeve up. Your left arm." He wanted to grab her, to rip her sleeves off and validate his claims.

"Oh my God" she said, finally realizing what he was rambling about. "John, it's not what you think." She stammered.

"REALLY" he stammered right back "Why don't you tell me what I'm thinking right now?"

"Your thinking I was bit" her lip quivered as she spoke.

"Well? Were you?"

"Yes but…"

John started to walk away, leaving Ellie in the dust. She reached for his shoulder and pulled him back. "I wanted to tell you… it's just."

"What, you… you thought I couldn't handle it…" John yelled "It wouldn't have been the first time. You know, if you were anyone else, I might have just shot you instead."

"John!" Ellie gasped. "You won't even let me explain?"

"Well you better start now, cause the clock's ticking for you Ellie" John screamed at her.

Ellie reached up and smack John across the face as tears formed in her eyes. "Fuck you!"

Ellie grabbed her bag and walked away as a large red hand print formed on John's cheek, at the same spot she had placed her lips not two minutes before.


	12. Skirmish

**Chapter 12: Skirmish**

"What the fuck did you say to her?!"

"What?" John asked as Joel walked up to him.

"What did you do?" he asked, pushing into John's chest and almost knocking him off the roof.

John caught his balance and steadied himself. "Don't do that again" John warned, resting his hand on his knife and slowly sliding it out.

Joel raised his fist and struck John in the cheek, drawing blood and knocking John to the floor. "Don't ever pull that knife on me again" he spat at the 17 year old.

John reached his hand to his cheek and felt the blood. He covered the wound with his hand and started to rise.

"Don't get up" Joel commanded and pushed John down with his booted foot.

"Or what?" John asked, Joel's eyes opened with surprise as John grabbed his leg and flipped him over. The two hundred pound man hit the floor hard and smacked his lip on the bricks. John was up and on top of Joel before he could react, taking hold of his head and smashing it into the hard floor again. The skin on Joel's forehead began to break open as he reached with his elbow and jammed John in the nose again.

The bone shattering hit to the face brought John back as he groaned in pain. He moved out of the way to dodge the next elbow. They stared at each other for a few seconds, unsure as to who would make the next move, who would attack the other first. John raised his hands in a taunting motion.

"Come on old man, let's see what you can do"

Joel ran at John, putting his shoulder down and slamming his right side into the younger man's belly. John slid back several feet as he wrapped his arm around Joel's neck. Joel ran John into the brick wall, slamming the teenager against the cement. John began to knee Joel in his stomach, with each blow, Joel slowly loosened his hold on his opponent.

Finally Joel let go of John's midsection and swore. The older survivor saw a handy 2x4 propped against the edge next to him and grabbed it. "I should have left you to die in the woods!" Joel said as he swung the large board at John's head.

The teen ducked and the wood missed his head by inches, almost brushing his hair. Joel brought the 2x4 back down, trying to smash John from the top. John side stepped to the right, the board hit the ground and snapped in half. Splinters flew around them as John balled a fist and slammed it into Joel's thigh.

Joel groaned as his leg cramped up, the limb becoming stiff and searing with pain. The other fighter wasn't done there, he took the other hand and punched Joel in the eye. Joel stepped back and yelled loudly.

John was about to strike the older man again when Joel reached back and slugged him in the belly. The force from the angry punch caused John's legs to buckle and he fell to the ground again. Joel brought his leg up and back down on John's back, trying to insure as much damage as possible.

The teenager screamed in pain as Joel stomped on his back, John's spine seemed to crumble under Joel's weight. Each kick felt like a gunshot wound. With no other option available, John reached up and punched Joel between the legs. Joel's next kick missed entirely as he doubled over retching. The older man almost blew solid chunks as John tried to get back up. Between John squirming on the ground and Joel almost throwing up, it didn't look like a very graceful fight.

John was the first to attack again. Flying at the older man, he grabbed at his neck and squeezed hard, trying to smash Joel's trachea. John held Joel over the edge of the building, giving Joel no room to rest his head.

Joel reached up and slammed his open palms into John's ears. The teen released his hold and stumbled back as his ears were filled with white noise. John cried out as Joel slammed his shoulder into his chest, the breath flew out of his lungs as he fell to the floor.

Joel, now with a large swelled eye and an even bigger problem down below, slammed his fist into John's face. The younger man's head slammed into the bricks each time Joel hit him, causing more damage on both sides.

John's face was cut open on both sides, huge gashes split open his cheeks. His back was on fire, each small movement felt like murder. John slammed his fist into Joel's chest, hearing a _crack_ as one of the ribs broke. John used the same hand to punch Joel's temple, making him roll over and put himself in the same position he had John in a few milliseconds before. John set to trying to break Joel's nose as Joel fought back, spitting blood into John's eyes and kneeing his belly.

Joel might have had experience, from twenty two years of fighting and surviving skirmishes with men the same size, but experience couldn't keep up with the determination and pure stamina of John's youth. Joel wasn't sure if he could keep up with the tenacity that John fought with.

Both these men fight to win, and this was a fight to the death.

* * *

**Ten Minutes Earlier **

Ellie walked by crying, something extremely odd for her. _What the hell? _Joel asked himself as his adoptive daughter ran by. Ellie's tears were like fine wine, extremely hard to find these days.

"Ellie?" Joel ran after her as she crossed the mess hall. He grabbed her small forearm and tried to pull her around. To his surprise, she didn't brush him off and keep walking. "What happened?" he asked as she fell into his chest, sobbing into his shirt.

"He… he found… my bite" she squeaked out "He… we started yelling at each other."

"What did he say?" Joel asked, moving Ellie off of him and looking at her eyes.

She shook her head "It's my fault, I should have told him about it." She tried to wipe the tears away.

"Ellie" he grabbed her shoulders "It's not your fault" he reassured her softly as Tommy entered the room. "I'm gonna go talk to him" Joel said as he started to turn away.

"No, Joel" she tried to pull him away, knowing full well what 'talk' meant.

Joel simply shrugged her off as Ellie turned to Tommy. Tommy sat her down at the closest table. Tommy sighed after she had explained the entire event.

"Oh God" Tommy said "Well, then what?"

"I smacked him and walked away, then this."

"Shit" Tommy said "I thought teenage drama was going to end when the world did." He rubbed his growing beard. "Alright, we have to…" he paused "Do you hear… screaming?"

* * *

"You son of a bitch" Joel took John's head in his hand and used his fatigued muscles to push it into the brick.

John slugged him in the leg again, the same leg he had already punched. Joel yelled and released his grip on John. Joel was slowly winning this fight and John was forced to resort to dirtier and dirtier fighting techniques. He went for the eyes, stepped on toes, smashed fingers, bit arms.

"I'm gonna kill you" Joel growled as John rolled over to get back up. "You can try" John said as he looked over to the corner. His hunting knife gleamed in the sun of the early morning. John almost tripped over himself as he scrambled for the blade. He wrapped his fingers around the hilt and positioned himself in a fighting stance.

"You aren't the first person to threaten me with a knife" Joel said.

"Doesn't matter" John spat "Seeing as I'll be the last." He lunged at Joel, swinging the knife down and trying to slice open Joel's throat. Joel moved out of the way and swung his fist again. John ducked and tried to stab Joel in the leg.

Joel moved his leg just in time. Another inch and John would have severed an artery. He did however, manage to slice open a small amount of skin. Blood gushed from the leg as Joel backed away.

Tommy and Ellie came bursting through the door as John tried to stab Joel again. "What the hell?" Tommy yelled as he walked onto the roof. John swung at Joel again, this time Joel managed to grab his wrist and punch John in the stomach. John headbutted Joel and knocked him back several feet.

The teenager pressed his foot onto Joel's wound, putting pressure onto the cut on his leg. Joel screamed in pain as John leaned down and pressed the knife to his throat. "I should kill you for attacking me."

Tommy wished he had grabbed his gun before coming up to the roof. There was nothing he could do as John pushed the knife harder, drawing a small amount of blood from Joel's neck. Tommy couldn't risk startling John and causing him to slip with the blade, but on the other hand if he did nothing, John might cut him open anyway.

John was about to slide the knife sharply, to drain Joel's blood and let him bleed out quickly and painfully. Ellie couldn't move or breathe as she watched. Her face seemed to be white as a ghost while her hands clenched into fists. She mouthed the words 'Don't' but wasn't sure if John had caught it.

Apparently he did, as he got off of Joel and sheathed his knife after wiping the blood off on Joel's shirt. John walked to the corner again and grabbed his bag. Ellie and Tommy ran to Joel as he slung the backpack over his shoulder. John walked back to the door, ready to leave the entire situation. Tommy pushed his hand in front of John's chest.

"Get your shit, get out, and don't ever come back."

John wiped blood off of his face and left as Ellie felt another small tear leave her eye.


	13. Isolated

**It's been a very long time since I uploaded a new chapter, I wasn't quite sure how i wanted this chapter to turn out, especially after the last one. I've recived a lot of feed back over John and how much people hate him. I was surprised sure, but how could you all be. He isn't a nice person or a good one, no one in this kind of world is. Anyway, i hope you enjoy this chapter, and i hope you can sympathize with John a little bit this time. **

* * *

**Chapter 13: Isolated**

John shoved the last three shirts he owned into his bag, wrapping his spare .45 clips around the last one and closing his backpack. He pulled the bag over his shoulder again and walked to the door. When he pulled the steel door open, he found Ellie waiting for him.

"I can't fucking believe you" she pushed him back inside the room and slammed the door behind her. "I really did like you John, I really did"

John brought back his balance and was quick to retort "Go yell at Joel, he attacked me, he started it!"

"It doesn't matter who attacked who, you tried to kill my father" she almost instantly regretted referring to Joel as her dad, but knew the effect had to be pushed.

"I…" he hesitated "I wasn't trying to kill him."

"Really, then I guess the knife to his throat was for kicks" Ellie yelled

"Don't you dare pin this on me." John said "He wasn't stopping, I was trying to get him to back off."

"You did a great job of it." She yelled at him. "Your lucky I didn't shoot you"

"Maybe you should have!"

She stopped breathing for a second, then quickly regained her focus on tormenting John "Don't say that to me, because I might still do it!"

"I can't believe this" he said "If you'll excuse me, I have to go back into the forest to die alone now"

Ellie was brushed aside as he walked past her, going as fast as possible down the hallway. She followed him, passing off other people as they did so. "Well what do you want me to do?" She asked, "Come with you so we can die together?"

John turned around "Yes" he said with more hesitation. They had reached the gate and the men were about to open it up.

Ellie swallowed a gulp of saliva that had been building in her throat. "Don't make me choose between you and Joel" she told him "Because I won't choose you."

She walked away as the gate closed on John, separating him from the only safe zone for over fifty miles.

* * *

John walked along a small stream two days later, looking for a place to go. He hadn't eaten in over 16 hours. That was when he saw it. The small shimmer of a scale and the splash of the water. John dived into the water, grabbing at the sand and the rocks, trying to catch his next meal.

He found it, his hands clutched onto a fish as it wiggled in his fingers. John rolled out of the water and shaked himself dry. He took the fish and swung it at a rock, killing it. The young man tossed the fish down on the rock and took his shirt off, attempting to dry it out.

John pulled the knife from his belt and ran the blade down the fishes' length, ripping it's guts out and attempting to skin it. He dug his fingers into the fish and took bits of it in his hand, he shoved the pieces into his mouth and chewed vigorously. It wasn't the worst thing he had ever eaten, then again it wasn't the best. John wasn't going to cook the fish, for one he was too hungry to not eat now, and on the other hand, starting a fire would attract way too much attention. Any number of things could be attracted to the smoke.

_Should I really go there again_ he asked himself _Is it worth going back, maybe I should just blow my brains out right now_. He stood up after his meal and continued walking down the stream. He looked to the east, where his possible destination was.

_I haven't been there since mom died_ he thought as he turned to the east, leaving the stream behind and leaving his set path as well. He brushed past several bushes and trees as he found a large view of the valley in front of him.

He was standing on top of a cliff, an extremely steep drop lay in front of him. "Now how the hell am I gonna pull this one off?" he asked himself as rain began to drip down. He scoped the area out, looking for anywhere on the rocks that had hand and footholds for him to cling to. Unfortunately, the rock was mostly smooth and didn't have much room for maneuvering down.

He went to his backpack for answers, pulling out two huge length of rope. "Hope it's long enough." He tried to reassure himself as he knotted the rope around a tree branch. He knotted both ropes together with the most intricate knot he knew. He tested the branch, pulling on it several times and leaning back with all his weight, making sure it wouldn't snap. "I can't believe I'm crazy enough to do this." He said as he backed up towards the side of the cliff. Again, testing the branch, he leaned back before stepping down. The branch hadn't snapped yet, he was off pretty well.

The rain was starting to pour already, shredding through his clothes and dampening them again, along with his spirits. With each step, he thought of his fucked up situation. Stuck alone in the woods again, unsure of his next move, undecided on whether to go to the only other safe place. He kept stepping down, trying to find footholds in the thick rock. Some of the loose rocks underneath him jumbled and rattled as John stepped down onto them. "Fuck" he swore. "There's still time to climb back up" he told himself, yet continued anyway.

"STOP FUCKING RAINING" He yelled at the sky as he rappelled down the cliff.

* * *

The sun was coming up again, peaking out over the trees on the horizon as John made his way into town. The small building casted large shadows as John rubbed at his shoulders. The large backpack weighed down on his back after several days of wearing it. His feet were close to bleeding as he put one shoe in front of the other.

"Look at this" a large frame walked out from behind the first building to John's right. "Look at this" the man laughed again. He was large and muscular, huge biceps poked out of his thin tee shirt. He carried a large shotgun that made John nervous to be around.

"What's up L?" John asked the dark skinned man as he walked up. The man's name was Louis, but the large man hated the name his parents had given him, and preferred to be called by the first initial.

"I don't know 'J'" he mocked, cocking the shotgun "Why don't you tell me?"

John shook his head as he took the pack from his shoulders and set it down on the concrete road. "Not much to tell." He said "I decided to go on a sort of a… walkabout"

"Walkabout?" the man laughed "Walkabout?" he chuckled as he raised the gun at John's head, pushing the barrel against his brow as John raised his hands.

"You're gonna kill me?" John asked him as the cold metal pressed into his face.

"I should" Louis stammered as he moved the gun under John's chin.

"Well if you're going to, just do it now… you're not the only one who wants me dead right now." He said, closing his eyes.

"Shut up" Louis swung the butt of the shotgun at John's head and hit him in the temple, knocking him to the hard ground and causing him to pass out. Blood streamed from his head as Louis threw him over his shoulder and carried him into camp.

* * *

John swore as his eyes bolted open. The first breath he took was dull and thick, like the air around him. The dried blood on his eyelids cracked open. The tent he was in was stained with dirt and bile. It was the torture tent.

"It's good to have you back." The voice said behind him. A creeping feeling ran down John's spine as a hand clapped his shoulder. "I was starting to miss you, after so many weeks."

"The way it was when I was here" John gasped out "I'd think you'd want me gone."

"No" He said "You're valuable"

"Valuable enough to treat like this" John pulled at the chains that bound his wrists to the chair.

"You have to pay penance for what you did" Edward Shaw stepped out from behind John's chair and grabbed his cheek, laughing.

"Don't touch me" John pulled his face away.

"I know you hate me" Shaw chuckled "This is the kind of world that breeds hate" he circled John again, tossing around the young man's hair, pulling at his ears, before leaning in to one of the lobes. "This is a world that breeds despair and turmoil and greed and corruption and death." Edward smiled and spat on John's face, a thick glob of saliva hit John's cheek. "Did you really think you could get away with that stunt? You probably would have if you hadn't walked right back here. I knew you were brave, but not a lack wit."

"I had nowhere else to go" A small tear ran down his face.

"Aww" Shaw whined playfully "Did your girlfriend break up with you?"

John growled as Shaw laughed. His face filled with blood as his rage intensified.

"Well what do you expect?" Shaw pulled a chair from the corner of the tent and sat. "You almost killed her surrogate father." Shaw smiled at the prospect of seeing Joel close to death. "You almost did my job for me."

"No" John said "Being a psychopath is your gig, asshole"

Shaw raised a hand and smacked John across the face, making a large red mark on his cheek. "Respect John-boy" He smirked "Just a little bit."

"Just kill me" John sobbed "Just kill me already. Stop your inane fucking blubbering and KILL ME"

"Why?" Shaw said "It'd be too easy. Regardless of your actions to this group and camp your still a member. Why don't you stick around? That way you can get your vengeance on those vermin at the plant."

"No" John shook his head "I won't do it."

"Yes you will" Edward said "Because I'm still going to kill everyone in that power plant if you don't."

"Fuck you" John said "Fuck you and your camp."

"Fuck me and my camp?" Shaw held his hands to his chest. "Me and all of your brothers in arms, Louis, James, Jacob, Adam, and Theodore too?"

"You all lost your minds years ago" John said "Back in Plainville"

Shaw sighed "I didn't want that to end that way." He said "It troubled me deeply for days and weeks. Months later I asked if I did the right thing there. Back in the great state of Connecticut, where I was a lowly state trooper on a low wage, doing everything my superiors told me. Then I was in charge, to protect everyone."

"Protection?" John gasped "You call that protection?"

"Like I said, it troubled me deeply. But your mother was a threat, and she deserved what she got. A slow roast in a brick mortar building." Shaw cackled maniacally as John lunged at him, trying to work his way out of the thick chains.

"You're a sick bastard and I should have killed you."

"I'm going to destroy that plant and rebuild it for myself and our camp." Shaw stood up. "OUR camp." He yelled loudly. "If you take part, maybe I'll spare your girlfriend. But if you don't help me, little Ellie is going to be the first life I take."

John swallowed a gulp of saliva as Shaw walked towards the entrance of the tent.

"Of course" Shaw opened the flap of the tent "I'll let the boys have fun with her first."

"I should have put more gunpowder in that bomb." John said scornfully.

"You have an immense taste for the theatrical." Shaw said smirking. "Like father like son huh?"

Shaw left John sitting there, screaming as he tried to break loose, trying to not choke on his own blood as he bellowed after his father.


	14. Je T'aime

**Chapter 14: Je T'aime **

"Welcome home"

John stood in the room he had lived in almost all his life. He walked to his closet, where his extensive wardrobe lay. He ripped his bloody shirt off and tossed it on the floor, grabbing a thick blue and black checkered flannel from the closet.

"It's good to have you back" Anthony said, leaning in John's doorway. The nineteen year old scratched his head as John changed. Anthony was smaller than John, being much lankier and taller rather than muscular. John had twenty pounds on Anthony easily. "Shit, things just ain't the same without you around. We saved you a plate from last night if your hungry." Anthony burped slightly and sighed "I missed you man."

"Sure you did" John grabbed his white sneakers from the corner of the room and pulled them onto his feet.

"Don't be like that." Anthony swallowed a thick glob of saliva. "I'm your friend"

"Not anymore" John slid his knife back into the holster and grabbed his gun. He bumped into Anthony's shoulder with his own as he exited his room.

"There's a raid tonight" Anthony said, following John down the hallway of his house. They passed Shaw's expensive collection of art on the walls as they opened the door to the outside.

"I know" John said as he passed one of the men, Jake, skinning a deer.

"So?" Anthony followed John to a bucket of water, where the young man splashed water into his face and rubbed his eyes vigorously.

"So?" John wiped his face off with the end of his shirt.

"So are you coming along or what?"

John stopped and turned around, he exhaled and scratched his arm. "You wanna know why I tried to blow up my own father?" John threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "Because I was sick and tired of butchering people, stealing their food, and raping their wives."

"Your dad was right" Anthony said chuckling as others took interest and crowded around the pair. The men were loud and rowdy as they turned from their jobs and looked at the boss's son and his friend.

"About what?" John stepped forward and wiped a hand through his auburn hair.

"Nothing" Anthony laughed him off and started walking back. "It's nothing." He shrugged as he waved to Shaw, who could be seen walking out of the house now.

John grabbed onto Anthony's shoulder fiercely. "About what?" John saw the slight flicker in Anthony's eyes as he spoke. "Come on Tony" John said reassuringly "We're friends" he smiled and clapped him on the chest "We can talk about shit."

"He said" Anthony rubbed his chin. "He said that… the pussy you snagged at that dam made you soft."

John froze. His heart stopped and his feet felt like they had sunk through the ground. All the men around them cheered and jeered in approval of Anthony's statement. Louis was chewing on a piece of jerky next to Shaw as the shouting got louder.

"Is that it?" Anthony laughed "You don't like being away from your hot tail for so long."

John's hand tightened as the rest of the men exploded with laughter. He looked to his father, who gave an approving nod. "Yeah" John said "That's it."

John's hand smashed into Anthony's nose with thundering force, knocking him off of his feet and kicking up dirt as he fell to the ground. John leapt onto his ex-friend and struck again, almost with more force and intensity.

And the cheering got louder.

* * *

"Your wasting ammo we don't have" Joel said disapprovingly.

"Sorry" Ellie said as she pulled the trigger again, the bullet impacted into the target painted on the tree. "I'm trying to stay in practice."

Joel pulled himself from the tree he was leaning on and walked over to her. "There's no point in practicing if you ain't got the bullets to use for real. Put the rifle down."

She pulled back on the bolt and loaded another round into the chamber. Ellie shook her head to get the long hair out of her eyes. "No" She fired again, this time missing. The round flew past the tree by a long shot and hit one of the others behind it.

"It's hard to shoot when your angry isn't it." He brushed his hand across one of his many cuts and bruises.

Ellie tossed the rifle down onto the ground and stomped back to the horses. She leapt onto her mount and kicked the animal into high gear.

Joel rubbed his head in frustration. "Ugh, I really hate teenagers."

* * *

"Tommy" Maria wailed playfully. "Come back to bed." She commanded, taking a sip from her glass of water. Tommy stood by the small window, his naked form casting a large shadow over the bedroom. His arm rested against the windowsill as he looked outside.

"They'll be gettin back soon" Tommy wiped sweat from his cheeks and forehead. "Tonight or tomorrow."

"Joel and Ellie are fine" Maria rose and pulled the blankets from the bed. The queen of the dam wrapped the blanket around herself and her husband.

"I wasn't talking about Joel and Ellie." Tommy said softly, his breath hitting the window and frosting the glass.

"You need to relax while you still can baby" Maria ran her fingers over Tommy's stiff shoulders. Tommy let out a small sigh of relief as she did so.

"There ain't no point in relaxing Maria" Tommy shook his head "That bastards coming and he's coming with a vengeance"

"Forget about Shaw for one night" Maria said soothingly, setting him back down at the foot of the bed. "And start remembering me." she pinned him down to the mattress and plopped down on top of him.

* * *

"FUCK" Edward Shaw panted out loudly. He pulled out of the woman fiercely as he flew back onto his bed.

"You disgusting piece of shit" The woman yelled loudly, slapping him on the arm "I better not be pregnant."

Shaw grabbed at her body roughly "That's all I need, another little brat running around, blowing up buildings and trying to kill me." Edward took a handful of her breasts as he kissed the woman. He broke the connection.

"What was your name again?" He grabbed the bottle of wine from the table. He chugged down half of the bottle before she could respond.

"Samantha" She said, crossing her arms and pushing her knees against her chest.

"Samantha" he said, as if he was trying to implant the name in his head "Sam, Sammie, Samerino, Sambo, Sam, Sam" he took another swing from the bottle. "Tell me something Sam who screams like a wild ram. Do you have kids?"

"Yes" she said, pulling the blankets over her legs.

Shaw pulled the covers back down. "How old?" he asked, pouring the wine on her thigh and slowly licking the alcohol up as she gave him a horrifying look.

"Nine" she panted as he got close to her inner thigh. "And… Thirteen!"

"Two!?" Shaw's head snapped up as he chuckled "I can barely imagine." He started to pour more wine on her as she grabbed the bottle.

"If I'm gonna answer your fucking questions, I want a few sips."

Edward looked at her, surprised at her sudden show of bravery. He handed her the wine, which Samantha took eagerly, needing the alcohol to wipe away the memories of the last few minutes of her life.

"Alright" Edward pulled the wine away from her. "What are your children's names?"

"Jimmy" She bit at one of her fingernails slightly "And Allie"

"A sweet princess and a regal prince huh?" Shaw downed the rest of the wine. "Which one is older?"

"Allie" Samantha said "She just turned thirteen last month"

Edward smiled, the peaks of his lips almost reaching his ears. "Tell little Allie happy birthday the next time you see her." He kissed her slightly on the cheek "From me."

"From you?" Samantha asked. "She doesn't know you"

"Just say it was from your fuck buddy" He bit her lip slightly and pulled on the flesh. "She's old enough to know what that is."

Samantha slapped at Edward playfully, almost forgetting where she was. Shaw saw this.

"Now don't forget your place right now." He said, touching her between the legs. Her buttocks left the bed as her grabbed her. "You laugh and scream when I want you to." He lay back down to the bed and smiled again. "Your kids, do they have the same father?"

"No" Samantha said, almost curling up into a ball again.

"Now now" Shaw said, pulling her arms off of her body again. "Let Uncle Edward see. Now tell me, did you love your children's fathers?"

"Allie's father was my husband." She squealed as he grabbed her. "He died when she was five"

"How?" Edward pushed his fingers inside of her, making her squeak and kick with her legs.

"Bit" she turned her head towards him, whipping her hair around to the other side. "His brother put him down" A small tear ran down her face as Shaw grabbed her.

"What about little Jimmy?" he asked

"I met a man in New York." She wiped the tears from her eyes. "I offered him… services in exchange for food and water. Jimmy was born nine months later."

"Looks like you offer services to a lot of people, me included, of course you're not getting paid so much as being allowed to live." He snarled slightly and laughed. "Do you love your children?" Edward asked as he rolled on top of her.

"More than…" She started before he entered her again, almost pushing deeper than before. "Anything!"

"How would you feel if they tried, just tried, to hurt you?" he grabbed her by the cheek and ran his other hand down her chest. "Cripple you?" he grabbed her stomach with intensity "Kill you?"

"Like I was already dead" She gasped as he pushed in again.

"Now you know how I feel about my son." He finished inside her again after several more minutes. He pulled himself off of her and laid down.

"Ah" he said "There's the other one." He nodded at the other woman coming in, holding another bottle of wine.


End file.
